Candidate number one, or the candidate behind curtain two

MAT-SU -- Voters will be asked to cast more than preliminary votes in races across Alaska Tuesday -- they'll also be deciding how future elections are run.

Numerous political parties across Alaska -- every recognized party except the Alaska Democratic party -- have come out in favor of preferential voting in Alaska.

San Francisco voters, in March, approved an instant runoff ballot that would allow voters to rank candidates in most area races according to their first, second and third choices. Some candidates

believe it may be a way to cure the siphoning effect many say third-party candidates have on elections.

Alaska, like many states, has a low voter turnout. It's something election officials and the lieutenant governor have been struggling with for a number of years. But not everyone agrees this is the best method to bring more people to the ballot box.

Here's how it works:

Voters head into the ballot box with a ballot that allows them to rank candidates according to choice. They can select their first, second and third candidate -- or more, depending on how the election is set up. If the first-place candidate does not receive at least 50 percent of the votes, the last-place finisher is dropped and his or her second-place votes are distributed among the remaining candidates. The process is

repeated until one candidate eventually reaches a majority.

Although AVR believes the instant runoff election is the best way to allow majority rule, the option is seen as clumsy by some and could result in a win by a candidate who, in a normal race, would have come in third. And one group, Fair Elections for Alaska, said Alaskans for Voter Rights is funded almost entirely by organizations and interests outside Alaska.

And Democrat Party worker Tammy Troyer said she has been studying the concept of preferential voting for a number of years. She said the system is highly politicized and its proponents and opponents vary depending on the political makeup of the state. The tendency of the third parties in a state really determine who will benefit the most from its inception, she said. She pointed to California as an example.

"In California, the Green party is huge," Troyer said. "The second choice vote of a Green is always going to be a Democrat."

In Alaska, the makeup is different. The smaller parties, such as Libertarians, Alaskan Independence Party and others are more closely tied to conservative candidates such as Republicans, not to Democrats. For that reason, she said, she doesn't believe it's a plan that should be instituted in Alaska or anywhere else.

But AVR spokesman Ken Jacobus said the best reason for instituting the plan is that it guarantees majority rule.

Jacobus sponsored the measure. When candidates are elected simply by the numbers -- without a 40-percent or higher minimum of votes, he said the outcome is not democracy.

"No runoff means people are elected by a plurality instead of a majority," Jacobus said. "The whole idea is to get people elected by a majority."