Alaska Officials Found Even More Voters Want to Keep State's Nonpartisan Elections System

Welcome to Alaska sign with mountains in the background.
Photo by Richard Martin on Flickr
Created: 01 Dec, 2024
2 min read

 

Photo by Richard Martin on Flickr

 

The Alaska election results have officially been certified and despite calls from Measure 2 supporters for a recount of the ballot initiative's loss by 664 votes, the Alaska Division of Elections re-checked its work before certification and had some bad news for them. 

The results show Measure 2 still failed and by an even greater margin. 

In my previous coverage I wrote that the nonpartisan better elections group FairVote looked at thousands of statewide elections from 2000 to 2023 and found that only "36 races had a complete statewide recount" -- 3 of which resulted in a change in outcome.

"In fact, FairVote found that the odds are much greater that a recount will result in a widened margin of victory for the winning side," I added.

And lo and behold, this is exactly what happened -- though what the elections division did was not technically a recount. It was a review of the initial count ahead of certification.  They did this for all elections.

The official count found that the margin between "No" on Measure 2 and "Yes" wasn't 664 votes -- it was 737. 

More Choice for San Diego

Measure 2 would have repealed Alaska's nonpartisan top four primary system and its use of ranked choice voting in the general election, even though the election model had only been used once when the Measure 2 campaign was announced.

The difference between "No" and "Yes" in the election shows that -- at least for the voters who participated in 2020 when reform was initially approved and 2024 -- the needle hasn't moved much on support for or opposition to reform. 

Advocates of repeal point to millions of dollars poured into the state to help defeat Measure 2, but they also almost benefited from a drop in turnout compared to 4 years ago. 

Read more about Measure 2 and the outcome of the election here

Related articles

voters at the ballot box.
Advocates Push for Reform to Stop Partisan Manipulation of Ballot Measures
An Election Reformers Network (ERN) report covering a 13-year period has found that state lawmakers ...
04 Feb, 2025
-
3 min read
i voted stickers
Giving Voters a Say: Maryland Bill Takes Aim at Representation by Appointment
A March hearing has been set in the Maryland House of Delegates for a bill that requires special ele...
14 Jan, 2025
-
2 min read
Image of voters at a polling location.
Bill Filed to Close Indiana's Critical Primary Elections
Photo by  Indiana lawmakers will consider a bill filed in the state's House of Representatives that ...
07 Jan, 2025
-
2 min read

Latest articles

voters at the ballot box.
Advocates Push for Reform to Stop Partisan Manipulation of Ballot Measures
An Election Reformers Network (ERN) report covering a 13-year period has found that state lawmakers and elected officials are increasingly manipulating the ballot initiative process to block or impede citizen-led efforts. ...
04 Feb, 2025
-
3 min read
Go vote posters.
Virginia Senate Advances Bill to Expand Ranked Choice Voting in Local Elections
The Virginia Senate approved a bill Monday that would expand the authority of local governments to conduct elections using ranked choice voting (RCV). The bill (SB1009) grants cities, counties, and towns the ability to implement RCV for all elections....
04 Feb, 2025
-
2 min read
USAID
What Is USAID and Can the President Abolish It?
The head offices of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) were closed Monday after staffers were told by email not to come to work. It is the latest move in the Trump administration's plan to shut down the agency....
03 Feb, 2025
-
5 min read