Alaska changed its election laws in 2021, typical

Crossville TN

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Alaska elections will be held for the first time this year under a "unique new system" that scraps party primaries and uses "ranked choice" voting in general elections. The Alaska Supreme Court last week upheld the system, narrowly approved by voters in 2020. It calls for an open primary in which all candidates for a given race appear on the ballot, regardless of party affiliation, followed by ranked voting in the general election. No other state conducts its elections with this combination, which applies to both state and federal races. A sponsor of the initiative, independent former state lawmaker Jason Grenn, has said Alaska is a "test case for similar efforts" being considered in Nevada and elsewhere. In the past, the winners of each party’s respective primary advanced to the general election. Under the new system, there will be one ballot, available to all registered voters, with each candidate in a given race. The top four vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, head to the general election. Voters in the general election then can rank candidates by order of preference. A consensus winner is selected if no one wins more than 50% of the first choices. Another change: Candidates for governor and lieutenant governor will team up at the outset. Previously, candidates for each office ran separately for the primary, and the winners of each party primary were paired for the general election. All state and federal races are subject to the new rules. That includes this year’s races for U.S. Senate, Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat, its governor and lieutenant governor posts and legislative seats. Some have seen the system as potentially helping Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who has a reputation as a moderate and has at times been at odds with Alaska party leaders, including in her criticism of former President Donald Trump. Murkowski lost her party primary to a tea party candidate, Joe Miller, in 2010 but won the general election with a write-in campaign. She won her primary easily in 2016, the year Trump was elected. It is important to note that Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, was the SOLE tiebreaker vote to turn off the oil industry in Alaska. She was the deciding vote that let Deb Haaland through the energy committee and it’s under Secretary Haaland and the Department of Interior that’s leading this "suspension of our leases" that have been lawfully executed. That vote cost us "billions" here in Alaska. * IF YOU CANNOT WIN IN THE ARENA OF IDEAS, CHANGE THE RULES.