After Peltola Wins In Alaska A Debate Breaks Out Over Ranked Voting

Comment ANCHORAGE — Democrat Mary Peltola made history this week as the first Alaska Native elected to her state’s lone U.S. House seat. She also became the first to win an election under Alaska’s new ranked-choice voting system — a new process in which voters rank candidates in order of preference. The process has drawn sharp criticism from some conservatives in the wake of Peltola’s special election victory over former Republican Gov. Sarah Palin, while defenders have praised her for rewarding less polarizing candidates and a more positive campaign. One of the most vocal critics was Palin. On Thursday, he issued a statement saying this week’s ranking results “were not the will of the people” and called on the other finalist in the recent special election, Republican Nick Begich III, to end his campaign before his general election. November. in which the candidates will face off again for a two-year term. Palin also called on the state to provide more information about the rejected ballots. Begich issued his own statement Wednesday, casting Peltola as out of step with most Alaskans and Palin as ineligible under the new system. He said the ranking results made it clear that in November, “a vote for Sarah Palin is actually a vote for Mary Peltola.” How second-choice votes propelled a Democrat to victory in Alaska The Alaska special election marked one of the highest-profile tests of ranked-choice voting to date, following its use last year in New York’s mayoral election and in Maine before that. A constitutional amendment to adopt a new voting system similar to Alaska’s is on the Nevada ballot in November. Experts cautioned against drawing sweeping conclusions from Peltola’s win, saying the results of Alaska’s new system will only become clear when other races are played and decided. That will happen in November, when Alaskans will rank the candidates in dozens of state legislative campaigns, Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s race for re-election and the congressional runoff with Palin, Peltola, Begich and a fourth finalist. “Everybody’s jumping to conclusions about who benefits from this thing when it’s completely unpredictable,” said Jack Santucci, a Drexel University politics professor who has studied ranked voting. “People really tend to see in these results what they want to see.” Alaska’s new candidate election system begins with a nonpartisan primary, in which the top four finishers advance to the general election and voters make only one choice. But in general elections, voters rank their choices on the ballot. If no candidate wins a majority of first preference votes, the lowest performing candidate is eliminated and their reserve votes are reallocated among the remaining candidates. The process continues until a winner emerges. Peltola was ahead after the first preference votes were counted in the special election. Palin, in second place, made up the ground, but still fell short of Peltola after the backup options of Begić, who finished third, were taken into account. (The fourth runner-up ended his campaign before the election, leaving just three on the ballot.) About half of Begich’s first-choice voters ranked Palin second. But nearly 30 percent chose Peltola second, while 21 percent ranked neither Peltola nor Palin — a result referred to as “ballot attrition.” Begich’s 11,222 cast ballots equaled more than double Peltola’s final margin over Palin. Graphic: How ranked voting could change the way democracy works Note: 47 ballots were not counted in the final round because the same rank was assigned to more by a candidate. Note: 47 ballots were not counted in the final round because the same ranking was assigned to more by a candidate. Palin has consistently criticized the system throughout her campaign, calling ranked-choice voting unreliable, “cockamamie” and “leftist” in various statements and social media posts. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) struck similar notes on Twitter, calling the system a “rigged election scam” on Wednesday. “60% of Alaska voters voted for a Republican, but thanks to a complicated process and ballot exhaustion — which disenfranchises voters — a Democrat ‘won,’” he wrote. But other observers argued that the result says less about the ranked-choice voting system and more about the candidates. “The problem for the GOP in Alaska was not ranked-choice voting. were their candidates. Requiring a candidate to get more than 50% to be elected is not cheating. it is reasonable. Let’s have ranked-choice voting everywhere,” former Michigan Rep. Justin Amas, a one-time Republican, tweeted. Peltola, in an interview with the Washington Post, attributed her victory not to Alaska’s new election system, but to her message that she would work across party lines. “I think it also reveals that Alaskans are very tired of the bickering and personal attacks,” he said. The percentage of Begich’s supporters who switched to Palin, experts said, reflects at least in part what polls show is her high negative rating among Alaska voters. Despite the GOP campaign urging Republicans to “rank red” and mark their ballots for both Palin and Begich, the two candidates’ repeated attacks on each other likely dampened the likelihood that the most ardent supporters them to pick the other candidate second, some observers said. “Republicans who voted for Nick and decided not to go any further essentially helped hand the election to Peltola,” said Sarah Erkman Ward, an Anchorage GOP political consultant hired to educate conservatives about the new system. “This will be a wake-up call for Republican voters to rethink their strategy.” Rank boosters said they look forward to Alaska’s November election, when voters and candidates will have a second chance to use the new system — and some lessons from what happened in the special congressional race. “They might make some different choices,” said Rob Richie, president of FairVote, a ranking advocacy group. Republicans, he added, “will have to decide how much they want this seat.” Alaska voters approved the state’s new election system on a 2020 ballot initiative when it passed by just 1 percent — fewer than 4,000 votes. He had heavy financial backing from entities linked to Catherine and James Murdoch, a son of media titan Rupert Murdoch, and John Arnold, a billionaire investor based in Houston, who have since contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to a super PAC supporting Murkowski’s re-election. Other supporters and operatives involved in the ballot campaign have ties to Murkowski, who beat a Trump-endorsed challenger in her August primary under the new non-party system — ignoring her fate in 2010, when she lost the primary GOP election and was re-elected only after a general election write-in campaign. But proponents of the system in Alaska say their vision was broader than a single election and aimed at reducing polarization in the state legislature. In interviews on Election Day, Alaska voters were split on the new system. Many conservatives said they found it confusing and frustrating and want to return to Alaska’s old system of party primaries and plurality in the general election. “Why change something that isn’t broken?” said Chris Chandler, 23, an Anchorage credit union employee who ranked Palin first and Begich second. “It’s just another way to get another Democrat in there.” But other voters urged patience. Dan Poulson, a public defender who ranked Peltola first, said Alaskans just need time to adjust to the system. “People get it as they walk in,” he said after the vote in Anchorage. “I think it will take experience and practice before we can do that.”

title: “After Peltola Wins In Alaska A Debate Breaks Out Over Ranked Voting Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-13” author: “Matthew Chapman”

Comment ANCHORAGE — Democrat Mary Peltola made history this week as the first Alaska Native elected to her state’s lone U.S. House seat. She also became the first to win an election under Alaska’s new ranked-choice voting system — a new process in which voters rank candidates in order of preference. The process has drawn sharp criticism from some conservatives in the wake of Peltola’s special election victory over former Republican Gov. Sarah Palin, while defenders have praised her for rewarding less polarizing candidates and a more positive campaign. One of the most vocal critics was Palin. On Thursday, he issued a statement saying this week’s ranking results “were not the will of the people” and called on the other finalist in the recent special election, Republican Nick Begich III, to end his campaign before his general election. November. in which the candidates will face off again for a two-year term. Palin also called on the state to provide more information about the rejected ballots. Begich issued his own statement Wednesday, casting Peltola as out of step with most Alaskans and Palin as ineligible under the new system. He said the ranking results made it clear that in November, “a vote for Sarah Palin is actually a vote for Mary Peltola.” How second-choice votes propelled a Democrat to victory in Alaska The Alaska special election marked one of the highest-profile tests of ranked-choice voting to date, following its use last year in New York’s mayoral election and in Maine before that. A constitutional amendment to adopt a new voting system similar to Alaska’s is on the Nevada ballot in November. Experts cautioned against drawing sweeping conclusions from Peltola’s win, saying the results of Alaska’s new system will only become clear when other races are played and decided. That will happen in November, when Alaskans will rank the candidates in dozens of state legislative campaigns, Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s race for re-election and the congressional runoff with Palin, Peltola, Begich and a fourth finalist. “Everybody’s jumping to conclusions about who benefits from this thing when it’s completely unpredictable,” said Jack Santucci, a Drexel University politics professor who has studied ranked voting. “People really tend to see in these results what they want to see.” Alaska’s new candidate election system begins with a nonpartisan primary, in which the top four finishers advance to the general election and voters make only one choice. But in general elections, voters rank their choices on the ballot. If no candidate wins a majority of first preference votes, the lowest performing candidate is eliminated and their reserve votes are reallocated among the remaining candidates. The process continues until a winner emerges. Peltola was ahead after the first preference votes were counted in the special election. Palin, in second place, made up the ground, but still fell short of Peltola after the backup options of Begić, who finished third, were taken into account. (The fourth runner-up ended his campaign before the election, leaving just three on the ballot.) About half of Begich’s first-choice voters ranked Palin second. But nearly 30 percent chose Peltola second, while 21 percent ranked neither Peltola nor Palin — a result referred to as “ballot attrition.” Begich’s 11,222 cast ballots equaled more than double Peltola’s final margin over Palin. Graphic: How ranked voting could change the way democracy works Note: 47 ballots were not counted in the final round because the same rank was assigned to more by a candidate. Note: 47 ballots were not counted in the final round because the same ranking was assigned to more by a candidate. Palin has consistently criticized the system throughout her campaign, calling ranked-choice voting unreliable, “cockamamie” and “leftist” in various statements and social media posts. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) struck similar notes on Twitter, calling the system a “rigged election scam” on Wednesday. “60% of Alaska voters voted for a Republican, but thanks to a complicated process and ballot exhaustion — which disenfranchises voters — a Democrat ‘won,’” he wrote. But other observers argued that the result says less about the ranked-choice voting system and more about the candidates. “The problem for the GOP in Alaska was not ranked-choice voting. were their candidates. Requiring a candidate to get more than 50% to be elected is not cheating. it is reasonable. Let’s have ranked-choice voting everywhere,” former Michigan Rep. Justin Amas, a one-time Republican, tweeted. Peltola, in an interview with the Washington Post, attributed her victory not to Alaska’s new election system, but to her message that she would work across party lines. “I think it also reveals that Alaskans are very tired of the bickering and personal attacks,” he said. The percentage of Begich’s supporters who switched to Palin, experts said, reflects at least in part what polls show is her high negative rating among Alaska voters. Despite the GOP campaign urging Republicans to “rank red” and mark their ballots for both Palin and Begich, the two candidates’ repeated attacks on each other likely dampened the likelihood that the most ardent supporters them to pick the other candidate second, some observers said. “Republicans who voted for Nick and decided not to go any further essentially helped hand the election to Peltola,” said Sarah Erkman Ward, an Anchorage GOP political consultant hired to educate conservatives about the new system. “This will be a wake-up call for Republican voters to rethink their strategy.” Rank boosters said they look forward to Alaska’s November election, when voters and candidates will have a second chance to use the new system — and some lessons from what happened in the special congressional race. “They might make some different choices,” said Rob Richie, president of FairVote, a ranking advocacy group. Republicans, he added, “will have to decide how much they want this seat.” Alaska voters approved the state’s new election system on a 2020 ballot initiative when it passed by just 1 percent — fewer than 4,000 votes. He had heavy financial backing from entities linked to Catherine and James Murdoch, a son of media titan Rupert Murdoch, and John Arnold, a billionaire investor based in Houston, who have since contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to a super PAC supporting Murkowski’s re-election. Other supporters and operatives involved in the ballot campaign have ties to Murkowski, who beat a Trump-endorsed challenger in her August primary under the new non-party system — ignoring her fate in 2010, when she lost the primary GOP election and was re-elected only after a general election write-in campaign. But proponents of the system in Alaska say their vision was broader than a single election and aimed at reducing polarization in the state legislature. In interviews on Election Day, Alaska voters were split on the new system. Many conservatives said they found it confusing and frustrating and want to return to Alaska’s old system of party primaries and plurality in the general election. “Why change something that isn’t broken?” said Chris Chandler, 23, an Anchorage credit union employee who ranked Palin first and Begich second. “It’s just another way to get another Democrat in there.” But other voters urged patience. Dan Poulson, a public defender who ranked Peltola first, said Alaskans just need time to adjust to the system. “People get it as they walk in,” he said after the vote in Anchorage. “I think it will take experience and practice before we can do that.”

title: “After Peltola Wins In Alaska A Debate Breaks Out Over Ranked Voting Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-30” author: “Robert Bucher”

Comment ANCHORAGE — Democrat Mary Peltola made history this week as the first Alaska Native elected to her state’s lone U.S. House seat. She also became the first to win an election under Alaska’s new ranked-choice voting system — a new process in which voters rank candidates in order of preference. The process has drawn sharp criticism from some conservatives in the wake of Peltola’s special election victory over former Republican Gov. Sarah Palin, while defenders have praised her for rewarding less polarizing candidates and a more positive campaign. One of the most vocal critics was Palin. On Thursday, he issued a statement saying this week’s ranking results “were not the will of the people” and called on the other finalist in the recent special election, Republican Nick Begich III, to end his campaign before his general election. November. in which the candidates will face off again for a two-year term. Palin also called on the state to provide more information about the rejected ballots. Begich issued his own statement Wednesday, casting Peltola as out of step with most Alaskans and Palin as ineligible under the new system. He said the ranking results made it clear that in November, “a vote for Sarah Palin is actually a vote for Mary Peltola.” How second-choice votes propelled a Democrat to victory in Alaska The Alaska special election marked one of the highest-profile tests of ranked-choice voting to date, following its use last year in New York’s mayoral election and in Maine before that. A constitutional amendment to adopt a new voting system similar to Alaska’s is on the Nevada ballot in November. Experts cautioned against drawing sweeping conclusions from Peltola’s win, saying the results of Alaska’s new system will only become clear when other races are played and decided. That will happen in November, when Alaskans will rank the candidates in dozens of state legislative campaigns, Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s race for re-election and the congressional runoff with Palin, Peltola, Begich and a fourth finalist. “Everybody’s jumping to conclusions about who benefits from this thing when it’s completely unpredictable,” said Jack Santucci, a Drexel University politics professor who has studied ranked voting. “People really tend to see in these results what they want to see.” Alaska’s new candidate election system begins with a nonpartisan primary, in which the top four finishers advance to the general election and voters make only one choice. But in general elections, voters rank their choices on the ballot. If no candidate wins a majority of first preference votes, the lowest performing candidate is eliminated and their reserve votes are reallocated among the remaining candidates. The process continues until a winner emerges. Peltola was ahead after the first preference votes were counted in the special election. Palin, in second place, made up the ground, but still fell short of Peltola after the backup options of Begić, who finished third, were taken into account. (The fourth runner-up ended his campaign before the election, leaving just three on the ballot.) About half of Begich’s first-choice voters ranked Palin second. But nearly 30 percent chose Peltola second, while 21 percent ranked neither Peltola nor Palin — a result referred to as “ballot attrition.” Begich’s 11,222 cast ballots equaled more than double Peltola’s final margin over Palin. Graphic: How ranked voting could change the way democracy works Note: 47 ballots were not counted in the final round because the same rank was assigned to more by a candidate. Note: 47 ballots were not counted in the final round because the same ranking was assigned to more by a candidate. Palin has consistently criticized the system throughout her campaign, calling ranked-choice voting unreliable, “cockamamie” and “leftist” in various statements and social media posts. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) struck similar notes on Twitter, calling the system a “rigged election scam” on Wednesday. “60% of Alaska voters voted for a Republican, but thanks to a complicated process and ballot exhaustion — which disenfranchises voters — a Democrat ‘won,’” he wrote. But other observers argued that the result says less about the ranked-choice voting system and more about the candidates. “The problem for the GOP in Alaska was not ranked-choice voting. were their candidates. Requiring a candidate to get more than 50% to be elected is not cheating. it is reasonable. Let’s have ranked-choice voting everywhere,” former Michigan Rep. Justin Amas, a one-time Republican, tweeted. Peltola, in an interview with the Washington Post, attributed her victory not to Alaska’s new election system, but to her message that she would work across party lines. “I think it also reveals that Alaskans are very tired of the bickering and personal attacks,” he said. The percentage of Begich’s supporters who switched to Palin, experts said, reflects at least in part what polls show is her high negative rating among Alaska voters. Despite the GOP campaign urging Republicans to “rank red” and mark their ballots for both Palin and Begich, the two candidates’ repeated attacks on each other likely dampened the likelihood that the most ardent supporters them to pick the other candidate second, some observers said. “Republicans who voted for Nick and decided not to go any further essentially helped hand the election to Peltola,” said Sarah Erkman Ward, an Anchorage GOP political consultant hired to educate conservatives about the new system. “This will be a wake-up call for Republican voters to rethink their strategy.” Rank boosters said they look forward to Alaska’s November election, when voters and candidates will have a second chance to use the new system — and some lessons from what happened in the special congressional race. “They might make some different choices,” said Rob Richie, president of FairVote, a ranking advocacy group. Republicans, he added, “will have to decide how much they want this seat.” Alaska voters approved the state’s new election system on a 2020 ballot initiative when it passed by just 1 percent — fewer than 4,000 votes. He had heavy financial backing from entities linked to Catherine and James Murdoch, a son of media titan Rupert Murdoch, and John Arnold, a billionaire investor based in Houston, who have since contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to a super PAC supporting Murkowski’s re-election. Other supporters and operatives involved in the ballot campaign have ties to Murkowski, who beat a Trump-endorsed challenger in her August primary under the new non-party system — ignoring her fate in 2010, when she lost the primary GOP election and was re-elected only after a general election write-in campaign. But proponents of the system in Alaska say their vision was broader than a single election and aimed at reducing polarization in the state legislature. In interviews on Election Day, Alaska voters were split on the new system. Many conservatives said they found it confusing and frustrating and want to return to Alaska’s old system of party primaries and plurality in the general election. “Why change something that isn’t broken?” said Chris Chandler, 23, an Anchorage credit union employee who ranked Palin first and Begich second. “It’s just another way to get another Democrat in there.” But other voters urged patience. Dan Poulson, a public defender who ranked Peltola first, said Alaskans just need time to adjust to the system. “People get it as they walk in,” he said after the vote in Anchorage. “I think it will take experience and practice before we can do that.”

title: “After Peltola Wins In Alaska A Debate Breaks Out Over Ranked Voting Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-30” author: “Michele Torres”

Comment ANCHORAGE — Democrat Mary Peltola made history this week as the first Alaska Native elected to her state’s lone U.S. House seat. She also became the first to win an election under Alaska’s new ranked-choice voting system — a new process in which voters rank candidates in order of preference. The process has drawn sharp criticism from some conservatives in the wake of Peltola’s special election victory over former Republican Gov. Sarah Palin, while defenders have praised her for rewarding less polarizing candidates and a more positive campaign. One of the most vocal critics was Palin. On Thursday, he issued a statement saying this week’s ranking results “were not the will of the people” and called on the other finalist in the recent special election, Republican Nick Begich III, to end his campaign before his general election. November. in which the candidates will face off again for a two-year term. Palin also called on the state to provide more information about the rejected ballots. Begich issued his own statement Wednesday, casting Peltola as out of step with most Alaskans and Palin as ineligible under the new system. He said the ranking results made it clear that in November, “a vote for Sarah Palin is actually a vote for Mary Peltola.” How second-choice votes propelled a Democrat to victory in Alaska The Alaska special election marked one of the highest-profile tests of ranked-choice voting to date, following its use last year in New York’s mayoral election and in Maine before that. A constitutional amendment to adopt a new voting system similar to Alaska’s is on the Nevada ballot in November. Experts cautioned against drawing sweeping conclusions from Peltola’s win, saying the results of Alaska’s new system will only become clear when other races are played and decided. That will happen in November, when Alaskans will rank the candidates in dozens of state legislative campaigns, Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s race for re-election and the congressional runoff with Palin, Peltola, Begich and a fourth finalist. “Everybody’s jumping to conclusions about who benefits from this thing when it’s completely unpredictable,” said Jack Santucci, a Drexel University politics professor who has studied ranked voting. “People really tend to see in these results what they want to see.” Alaska’s new candidate election system begins with a nonpartisan primary, in which the top four finishers advance to the general election and voters make only one choice. But in general elections, voters rank their choices on the ballot. If no candidate wins a majority of first preference votes, the lowest performing candidate is eliminated and their reserve votes are reallocated among the remaining candidates. The process continues until a winner emerges. Peltola was ahead after the first preference votes were counted in the special election. Palin, in second place, made up the ground, but still fell short of Peltola after the backup options of Begić, who finished third, were taken into account. (The fourth runner-up ended his campaign before the election, leaving just three on the ballot.) About half of Begich’s first-choice voters ranked Palin second. But nearly 30 percent chose Peltola second, while 21 percent ranked neither Peltola nor Palin — a result referred to as “ballot attrition.” Begich’s 11,222 cast ballots equaled more than double Peltola’s final margin over Palin. Graphic: How ranked voting could change the way democracy works Note: 47 ballots were not counted in the final round because the same rank was assigned to more by a candidate. Note: 47 ballots were not counted in the final round because the same ranking was assigned to more by a candidate. Palin has consistently criticized the system throughout her campaign, calling ranked-choice voting unreliable, “cockamamie” and “leftist” in various statements and social media posts. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) struck similar notes on Twitter, calling the system a “rigged election scam” on Wednesday. “60% of Alaska voters voted for a Republican, but thanks to a complicated process and ballot exhaustion — which disenfranchises voters — a Democrat ‘won,’” he wrote. But other observers argued that the result says less about the ranked-choice voting system and more about the candidates. “The problem for the GOP in Alaska was not ranked-choice voting. were their candidates. Requiring a candidate to get more than 50% to be elected is not cheating. it is reasonable. Let’s have ranked-choice voting everywhere,” former Michigan Rep. Justin Amas, a one-time Republican, tweeted. Peltola, in an interview with the Washington Post, attributed her victory not to Alaska’s new election system, but to her message that she would work across party lines. “I think it also reveals that Alaskans are very tired of the bickering and personal attacks,” he said. The percentage of Begich’s supporters who switched to Palin, experts said, reflects at least in part what polls show is her high negative rating among Alaska voters. Despite the GOP campaign urging Republicans to “rank red” and mark their ballots for both Palin and Begich, the two candidates’ repeated attacks on each other likely dampened the likelihood that the most ardent supporters them to pick the other candidate second, some observers said. “Republicans who voted for Nick and decided not to go any further essentially helped hand the election to Peltola,” said Sarah Erkman Ward, an Anchorage GOP political consultant hired to educate conservatives about the new system. “This will be a wake-up call for Republican voters to rethink their strategy.” Rank boosters said they look forward to Alaska’s November election, when voters and candidates will have a second chance to use the new system — and some lessons from what happened in the special congressional race. “They might make some different choices,” said Rob Richie, president of FairVote, a ranking advocacy group. Republicans, he added, “will have to decide how much they want this seat.” Alaska voters approved the state’s new election system on a 2020 ballot initiative when it passed by just 1 percent — fewer than 4,000 votes. He had heavy financial backing from entities linked to Catherine and James Murdoch, a son of media titan Rupert Murdoch, and John Arnold, a billionaire investor based in Houston, who have since contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to a super PAC supporting Murkowski’s re-election. Other supporters and operatives involved in the ballot campaign have ties to Murkowski, who beat a Trump-endorsed challenger in her August primary under the new non-party system — ignoring her fate in 2010, when she lost the primary GOP election and was re-elected only after a general election write-in campaign. But proponents of the system in Alaska say their vision was broader than a single election and aimed at reducing polarization in the state legislature. In interviews on Election Day, Alaska voters were split on the new system. Many conservatives said they found it confusing and frustrating and want to return to Alaska’s old system of party primaries and plurality in the general election. “Why change something that isn’t broken?” said Chris Chandler, 23, an Anchorage credit union employee who ranked Palin first and Begich second. “It’s just another way to get another Democrat in there.” But other voters urged patience. Dan Poulson, a public defender who ranked Peltola first, said Alaskans just need time to adjust to the system. “People get it as they walk in,” he said after the vote in Anchorage. “I think it will take experience and practice before we can do that.”