How to vote with the Rank Vote Choice in upcoming primary election

Voting is in full swing for early and absentee voting for the upcoming Primary and General Special election on Aug. 16. Amid the flurry of candidate ads, political debates, and campaign mailers, the Alaska Division of Elections has been airing public service announcements and posting videos to help voters navigate through the new Rank Voting that Alaska is now using.

Recently the Division of Elections and Alaskans for a Better Elections held a webinar, “Alaska’s Elections,” as a tutorial to guide residents through the changes in the Alaskan voting process. The webinar was hosted by Common Grounds.

First question for many is why the change to Rank Choice? Back in 2020, the Nonpartisan Pick One Primary Election system and a Ranked Choice Voting General Election system measure made it onto the ballot and voters approved the measure, making Alaska only the 2nd state behind Maine to use rank choice voting state-wide. Other cities in the lower 48 use this voting method, but not the states.

The idea behind the measure is to cut out multiple ballots that rely on party affiliation, giving every voter the same ballot, regardless of what political party they claim.

“More than 60% of voters don’t affiliate with any party. This will give new power to the voters since they don’t need to choose a political party,” said Jason Grenn, Executive Director of Alaskans for Better Elections.

Grenn also says that this system will be more representative of Alaska voters and that the candidates will have to work to find common ground with the majority, “not plurality.”

The rank choice does affect some aspects for the candidates that appear on the ballot. For one thing, when a candidate’s name appears, the party affiliation will still appear next to the name but that does not necessarily mean that person has been endorsed by that party or group, or that they have been approved or even associated with that party.

Another change voters will see on the ballots is that candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor now run as a team versus independent as in the past.

As many voters saw during the special election primary back in June, during the primary voting, voters must choose 1 name. The top 4 candidates from that list move from the primary to the general election.

So, how do voters cast their ballots?

First, keep in mind the offices elected using Rank Choice Voting includes President/Vice President, U.S. Senator, U.S. Representative, Governor/Lieutenant Governor, and all state representatives and state senators. Judges and measures will not be used in the new voting system.

When voters receive their ballots, the first thing to do is mark the candidate that represents the first choice. Mark that candidate only once. From there, voters can continue to select the rankings of their next choice, and so on. It is not necessary for voters to rank any other candidates after selecting a first choice.

How are the votes counted under this new system?

Votes will be counted in rounds. Round 1, the Division of Elections counts all 1st choices. The Division counts all 1st choices. At this point, if a candidate gets 50% + 1 of the votes, that candidate wins and the counting stops.

If not, counting goes to Round Two. Here it can get a little confusing. In this round, the candidate with the fewest votes gets eliminated. If a voter selected that candidate as the first choice and is eliminated, the vote goes to that voter’s second choice.

If a voter’s first choice candidate was not eliminated, that vote stays with them. Votes are counted again. This keeps happening in rounds until two candidates are left and the one with the most votes wins.

And, if there’s a tie, which candidate gets to advance? In the event of a tie between 2 candidates with the fewest votes in a round, Alaska law says the tie is resolved “by lot” to determine which candidate is eliminated and which candidate advances to the next round. The term “by lot” means the Division of Election’s director will flip a coin or draw straws. The same applies if there is a tie for the last two remaining candidates.

A few other things to keep in mind during the tabulation process includes only 1st choice votes are counted on election night and reported as the unofficial results. Ongoing ballot counting of absentee ballots, mail-in ballots will also take place.

If there is no candidate has 50% + 1 vote, the next rounds will take place 15 days AFTER Election Day.

A few mistakes to avoid? Gail Fenumiai, Director of Election for the State of Alaska, Division of Elections, reminds voters of a few things, such as skipping a ranking. If a voter skips a ranking, your next ranking moves up.

For example, if a voter’s first choice candidate is eliminated, their third choice counts as the second choice and their fourth choice would count as their third choice.

It is not possible to vote for a candidate more than once.

“Your vote only counts once, even if you rank a candidate more than once. When a candidate is eliminated in a round, they are eliminated from all future rounds.”

When asked about the issue of election transparency and possible fraud, Fenumiai wants to reassure Alaskans that the division follows the law.

“I am confident in our systems and we are doing everything to ensure integrity and transparency,” she said during the webinar.

Grenn encourages those with questions about the election process to visit the Division of Elections website to learn about the chain of custody of the ballots and learn the process.

“Alaska always gets top marks (for the election process),” Grenn added.

One final note for the August elections-on the front of the ballot, voters will be able to vote in the primary elections for the U.S. Senator, U.S. Representative, and Governor/LT Governor. Some districts will also have State Representatives and State Senators as well. Voters will select only 1 candidate in each category.

On the back side, voters will vote Rank Choice Vote for the special election for U.S. Representative to replace the late Don Young. This is where voters may rank their first, second, third choice, etc.

In-person voting for the Alaska Special Election and the Primary General Election is Tuesday, Aug. 16.

For more information about the election process and all candidates, visit elections.alaska.gov