I've made no secret of my displeasure with Alaska's ranked-choice voting system. In the first election where this idiotic system was applied, in 2022, in our own little rural community, I heard several people comment, while we were waiting in line, that they wanted nothing to do with the system. More than one voter, talking about that year's House of Representatives contest for Alaska's at-large seat, commented, "I'm not ranking anyone, I'm voting for Nick/Sarah and that's it."
Now, stats are coming in from a new report on the 2022 and 2024 elections, and it seems that the people I overheard were not alone in that sentiment.
Alaska’s Nov. 3 election provides voters an option to rank candidates according to their preferences. It’s an opportunity many voters don’t take.
Alaska Public Media’s Liz Ruskin revealed the statistics on “bullet voting” in the Sept. 4 edition of her politics newsletter, Alaska at-Large.
Wesley Early: Liz, what did you find about how voters use their ballots?
Liz Ruskin: I was kind of stunned when I saw how many Alaskans “bullet vote” – that’s the term for choosing just one candidate per race and not doing any ranking.
In November 2022, Alaska’s first regular ranked choice general, 40% of voters were “bullet voters.” In November 2024, that figure was 60%. So 60% of voters did not rank their ballots. (That’s the average for all races with more than two candidates.)
I should point out that I used code drafted by AI to analyse the Division of Elections data files. I checked my results with researchers who’ve studied the same data and they say I’m not wrong.
Now, look at our statewide elections this year. In the Senate race, we have one Democrat and three Republicans. Yes, one of them is a likely plant, but for the election, that no longer matters. In the House of Representatives race, things are looking a little better for Republicans, with the one Republican being the popular Nick Begich III, facing a Democrat, a Libertarian, and a non-partisan candidate. But in the Governor's race, once more, we have one Democrat, and three Republicans.
This, taken in light of the possibility of a majority of Republican voters "bullet voting," or only voting for one candidate and eschewing the ranking system, is a recipe for disaster for these Republicans. If this holds, if over half of Republicans only vote for their one preferred candidate, then the result will be a win for the Democrats. That's it. That's what will happen. Ranked-choice voting is stupid and senseless, but it's the system we have right now, and if Republicans "bullet vote," we lose. It's as simple as that, Alaskans.
We have to rank every Republican candidate. Rank them in order of the number of votes received, preferably, but rank them. If you don't, we lose. Failure to do this guarantees a Democrat win in the second or third round of tally. Rank or lose. That's all there is to it.
Now, there's a teeny-tiny silver lining behind this trend. Also on the November ballot is Ballot Measure 2, which will eliminate ranked-choice voting (RCV) and return us to partisan primaries and traditional elections. The last attempt at repeal, despite the pro-RCV side outspending the pro-repeal side by a wide margin, failed by only 700-plus votes. Could this trend towards bullet voting indicate Alaskans are having a growing disenchantment with this system, and may well vote this year to overturn RCV?
We can hope.
In the meantime, Alaskan Republicans, please, please, please go here, look at all the candidates, and fill in every tier in the stupid RCV ballots. Rank every Republican. Don't leave money lying on the table. We have to win this; we have to return Senator Sullivan to office, we have to return Nick Begich III to office, and we have to elect a Republican governor. That means ranking the red.
Let's get this done, Alaskans.
Check this out from last week's Alaska Man Monday video segment for more of my comments on this idiotic system.