A ballot measure repealing ranked choice voting and open primaries in Alaska is failing for the first time since counting of ballots from the Nov. 5 election began — the continuation of a steady decline in the margin by which the measure was leading on Election Night, according to updated results released Monday afternoon by the Alaska Division of elections..
Results as of about 2:30 p.m. Monday showed 157,124 votes (50.03%) against the repeal and 156,932 votes (49.97%) in favor. The update reflects 2,427 ballots tallied Monday in opposition of the measure and 1,340 supporting it.
“I’ve already been kind of committed to doing it again if necessary,” Phil Izon, a Wasilla resident who launched the repeal effort two years ago, said in an interview Monday evening, noting repeal opponents spent roughly $15 million compared to the $520,000 by supporters.
A recount can be requested by a group of 10 voters within five days of the results being certified, which for this election is scheduled Nov. 30. Izon said at this point he’s not committing to requesting a recount or otherwise challenging the results.
“You win some and then you lose some, and this one is was down to the very wire,” he said. “It’s going to go down in history as one of the closest races in Alaska’s history…I think it’s cool to be a part of history.”
About 5,100 absentee, early and questioned ballots remain to be counted, with the elections division scheduled to release on Wednesday a final count that includes ranked choice results of candidates races where nobody has a majority of first-choice votes.
The ranked choice process will almost certainly be used in the race for Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat, where Republican challenger Nick Begich III has 156,415 votes (48.53%) and Democratic incumbent Rep. Mary Peltola 149,192 (46.29%). While Begich’s lead has narrowed somewhat in ballots counted after Election Day, the remaining uncounted ballots aren’t enough for Peltola to make up Monday’s 7,223-vote gap.
Two other House candidates are on the ballot: Alaskan Independence Party chair John Wayne Howe who has 12,647 votes (3.92%) and whose first-choice voters are most likely to rank Begich second; and New York state prison inmate Eric Hafner who is running as a Democrat and has 3,304 votes (1.03%).
Begich has already claimed victory in the race, although Peltola has not conceded.
No other races changed as a result of Monday’s count, although one state legislative race remains extremely tight. State Rep. Cliff Groh, an Anchorage Democrat, had a 25-vote lead as of Monday over Republican challenger David Nelson, expanding what had been a 10-vote lead.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
