Some folks are really up in arms about the increased freedom afforded Alaska voters by ranked choice voting. “Alaskans for Honest Elections” have mounted a ballot initiative to try to repeal it. Their campaign is anything but honest, and I urge you to vote “no” on 2.
Repealers claim that Ranked Choice Voting is “confusing” for Alaska voters. Yet people have been ranking their preferences one, two and three since childhood, whether it’s ice cream, pizza toppings or high-school electives. Those against ranked choice voting seem to think Alaska voters are too stupid to understand numerical order, yet they expect them to make decisions on far more complex issues like taxation, fish and game laws, and constitutional conventions.
Ranked choice voting takes power away from political parties and returns it to citizens. By allowing the top four vote-getters to proceed to the general election, regardless of party, ranked choice voting gives Alaskans more candidate options and a way to express more complex preferences. If your preferred candidate doesn’t get enough votes to win in the general election, it enables you to say, “well, candidate number two wasn’t my first choice, but I sure do prefer them to that third clown.” It often delivers more moderate politicians that see their role as representing all Alaskans, rather than the narrow ideology of The Party.
The effort to repeal ranked choice voting comes from political operatives who resent losing control of voters’ choices. They call their group “Alaskans for Honest Elections,” but they are anything but honest. One prominent repealer heads a church in Anchorage, but, Ten Commandments aside, lied and created a phony church in Washington State to launder money through, for which the group was fined $94,000. The Alaska Public Offices Commission is currently moving to levy a further $85,000. Another backer is disgraced former Alaska Attorney General Kevin Clarkson, who resigned from that post after surreptitiously sending 547 inappropriate text messages to a young female subordinate. These are the “honest” folks who want more control over your vote.
Ranked Choice Voting allows Alaskans more freedom to express their real political preferences, not just the ones allowed them by the Party. Please vote no on ballot issue 2.
Stuart Cohen
Juneau