The Dust Settles and the Future Takes (a bit of) Shape

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[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_text _id=”4″ ][cs_content_seo]After the fanfare of the general election fades away and the nail-biter races are called, the action moves to the task of legislative organization – who will be in charge of what, who will wield the levers of power, and who will not. This can take no time or a very, very long time, depending on the ideological schisms of those elected.
The State Senate has rapidly coalesced around a 17-member bipartisan majority. Likely this formation was in the works after the August primary numbers came in, given the patchy trend (but trend indeed) of voters electing the more moderate candidate. This organization has many strong champions of education at the helm, and recent statements indicate that the coalition’s focus will be to protect education, grow the economy and address high energy costs in Alaska. At this point, we are prepared for a pretty low-key fireworks show in the Senate compared to the last four years. We anticipate the Senate will be a strong barrier against Governor Dunleavy’s more damaging budget proposals.
The fact that the Governor previously proposed a Renewable Portfolio Standard and a Green Bank for clean energy investments last session, the fact that long-term natural gas supply contracts in SouthCentral Alaska are ending in 2024, the fact that the floodgates are open on federal clean energy infrastructure program money, and the fact that the state Senate is clearly indicating it wants to work on energy costs – are good facts for our legislative priorities at The Alaska Center.
Our priority goals to help Alaskans lower energy costs and to address climate change are as follows: 

Pass a Renewable Portfolio Standard that will allow Alaska Railbelt utilities customers to purchase energy from 80% renewable sources by 2040.
Pass Community Solar legislation that will allow more Alaskans to benefit from renewable energy.
Extend the Renewable Energy Fund. 

Stay tuned for more on these and other clean energy priorities in our next blog!
Whether the State House will rally around similar general goals (education, economy, energy) as the Senate is now an open question. The House is in a more protracted organizing process and will not know until after December 21 if one member is eligible to take his seat until the courts determine if he is in violation of the Alaska Constitution’s Disloyalty Clause. However the House organizes, the numbers trend toward moderation with 6 Independents, 13 Democrats, and 21 Republicans. We hope for a continued Bipartisan Coalition in the House that will work towards a more thriving, just, and sustainable future.
If the Governor is moderated by the Senate bipartisan coalition, the House Republicans will be moderated by the Governor’s goals – that is our prediction anyway. It bodes well for meat and potato issues like driving down energy costs for Alaskans through increases in clean energy, and we can work with that.
Talk to you soon,
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The Results Are In

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Hi friends,
We finally know all the election results!

Alaska voters had to decide on quite a lot this year: 59 state legislative seats, the Governor, our US Congressperson and Senator, and whether to hold a Constitutional Convention. The Alaska Center Board of Directors’ endorsements included more than 30 state legislative candidates (with multiple ranking recommendations), as well as Mary Peltola for the US House, and Les Gara and Bill Walker for Governor.

The Alaska Center Independent Expenditure focused the political program on maintaining the bipartisan coalition in the State House and building the opportunity for one in the State Senate. While we won’t know whether these bipartisan coalitions come to fruition until announcements are made, the future is looking bright for a new Senate bipartisan coalition. We’re hopeful for a continued coalition in the State House.

Multiple newly elected leaders in the House make a bipartisan coalition possible. Cliff Groh in North Anchorage has unseated David Nelson and was the focus of much of The Alaska Center Independent Expenditure’s program. We encouraged voters to rank both progressive candidates in this race, and we’re pleased that so many used their votes to their full power. Two new women are headed to the legislature, Maxine Dibert from Fairbanks and Donna Mears from East Anchorage, who have a lot to be happy about. Both are long-time community servants and leaders, and we’re ready for their time in Juneau.

As with every election, there are tough losses for some of our endorsed candidates, including Ted Eischeid and Denny Wells. We hope to see these leaders run again to serve their communities, and we will continue to fight for candidates who will support a thriving, just, and sustainable future. Additionally, Denny Wells’ loss by four votes should remind us all that every door you knock, phone call you make, and friend you speak with matters.

Finally confirmed by ranked choice vote tabulation, Mary Peltola is our re-elected Congressperson! We’re thrilled that Alaskans re-elected the only pro-fish candidate in the race. We’re excited to work with her and the newly re-elected Sen. Murkowski to effect positive change for Alaska.

Alaskans said no, as they have again and again, to a Constitutional Convention. With the prospect of that off the table, we know we’ll have work to do in accountability with Governor Dunleavy’s re-election to a second term.

We should know better now than ever that our democracy is sacred and that we must protect it. Even when we don’t like the results of an election, the fact is that Alaskans used their voices to elect leadership, and that’s an amazing right we must maintain. We’ll keep defending our right to vote–plus, we’re expecting that ranked choice voting and open primaries will be under attack next year.

We will continue to inform you how to get involved to protect our system. Thank you for voting and working to make our democracy strong–we’re in this with you.

In solidarity,
The Alaska Center

The Youth Are Alright

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Young people showed up in this midterm election in record numbers, the second-highest youth voter turnout in thirty years. The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) estimates that 27% of young people (ages 18-29) turned out to vote.

Millennials and Generation Z are quickly becoming a larger voting block than Baby Boomers. Young voters know their futures are on the line, having grown up and come into adulthood in a turbulent time amidst escalating inequality and the climate and economic crises (to name a few) and a total lack of adequate response from the government. They are voting for leaders they hope will address the issues facing today’s youth.

It’s not just in the polls; young people are also showing up on the ballot. Florida voted in the first Gen Z U.S. Representative, 25-year-old Maxwell Alejandro Frost, who won nearly 60% of the vote. At home in Alaska, we have a long history of electing young leaders, several of whom are headed to the state legislature this year, including Genevieve Mina. Gen Zers also are stepping up to work on progressive campaigns and have been successful in electing candidates who share their values for the future.

Many political commentators also noted that youth voters were crucial in stopping the “red wave” that many expected in this election. Such a turnout should force leadership to evaluate how they engage with this demographic and push forward policies that work to ensure a future where young Americans can thrive.

Elections are far from the only time to invest in young voters. Our Alaska Youth for Environmental Action (AYEA) program has engaged young people from across the state for over twenty years. AYEA’s mission is to create a statewide movement of diverse young Alaskans with the skills, connections, and inspiration to advocate for their communities. From climate strikes to lobbying in Washington D.C., AYEA youth can engage with their peers and advocate on important issues. Outside of the AYEA program, since 2020, The Alaska Center Education Fund has hired Alaskan youth from rural and urban areas to engage in voter education with our Youth Civic Engagement Fellows program. Fellows have made an impact through phone calls, emails, and community events. The latest cohort alone had over 1,000 one-on-one conversations with voters about ranked choice voting to ensure Alaskans were prepared at the polls.

As the new year approaches, we look forward to engaging young Alaskans in voter education and Democracy policy defense. Some in our legislature will assuredly take aim at ranked choice voting. There will be continued attacks on Automatic Voter Registration tied to PFD applications, which would disproportionately impact young voters. These policies have greatly improved our Democracy, and we will work to preserve these laws to continue working towards a more just and sustainable Alaska for today and future generations.

A Just Transition to an Indigenized Future

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[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_text _id=”4″ ][cs_content_seo]November is Native American Heritage Month. Here in Alaska, this means centering the people who have shaped this land since time immemorial. Around 20% of Alaska’s population is Indigenous, but Native culture plays a much more significant role in our history and in our future. Alaska Natives have stewarded these lands successfully for 10,000 years – we live every day on Native Land. Native American Heritage Month is a time to reflect on this legacy of stewardship and look forward.
To heal from past crimes and solve our most dire social and political problems, we must work to Decolonize and Indigenize our ways of life. As a conservation organization, this means owning our place in colonizing history. It also means looking at new ways to understand and build a future together. It means learning from elders and revitalizing Native languages; upholding self-determination for tribes and shifting funding to Native tribes, villages, and organizations; living within the limits of the land and eating local foods, and deep listening. Everyone who lives in Alaska – Native or not – can do these things.
This reframing, collective healing, and visioning are what a Just Transition aims to do. “Just Transition” refers to a transition away from extractive industries and practices like oil and gas and historically colonial ideas of community and economy. A Just Transition moves us towards practices informed by Indigenous knowledge. A Just Transition doesn’t aim to return us to the world as it was before settlers set foot in Alaska; a Just Transition seeks to choose policies that will be best for all Alaskans.
We already see examples of Just Transition principles at work. We see it in the recent election of Mary Peltola, the first Alaska Native woman in Congress. We see it in the failure of ANWR lease sales and the emergence of small-scale solar projects in rural Alaska. We see Just Transition embodied in Native leadership at all levels of government, including in the co-management of Alaskan lands and waters. And we see it in the reemergence of Native languages in our schools and towns. These accomplishments, and many more, are thanks to the hard work and vision of Indigenous leaders across the state.
But we have so much work left to do.
Next week, our state and country will head to the polls. These are the lands of the Dena’ina, Tlingit, Haida, Ahtna, Sugpiak, Tanana Dene, Yup’ik, Inupiat, and so many more, and our politics must reflect this. We must ensure that Native communities have full and unrestricted access to voting by translating ballots and information into Native languages, providing voting assistance for elders, and streamlining voter registration and voting by mail. We must elect leaders who will represent all Alaskans. We need Native leadership and leadership that listens to Native communities. The table needs to expand. A transition is inevitable; justice is not. However, those sitting at our decision-making tables can ensure that the transition is a just one and no Alaskans are left behind.
Voting is a vision for the future. Our choices at the polls must reflect our understanding and history with these lands, but they also must shine a light toward a thriving future for All Alaskans.
Happy Native American Heritage Month, and happy voting.
Don’t forget to have your absentee ballot postmarked or go vote in-person by November 8. This is a huge election and our values are on the line.
The Alaska Center

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We’re Done (-leavy)

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[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_text _id=”4″ ][cs_content_seo]This state has endured a lot over the course of the past four years. Beginning with the horrors of the first Dunleavy Budget, which would have ended Alaska as we know it (under the calm and cool guidance of a budget-decimating tourist named Donna Arduin.) Dunleavy was then cheered on, from a Florida veranda, by the blogger Suzanne Downing and by a complicit extreme far-right group of lawmakers spawned from the acrimony and fever swamp of the Trump years. We then hit COVID and the head-in-a-vice sensation of hunkering down while Republican politicians nationally and in Alaska churned the situation into a cynical warzone. 
Pressured by his Trump minions in the legislature, Dunleavy wasted state money joining a frivolous national lawsuit to overturn the free and fair 2020 election results. The state has soaring opioid addiction and overdose rates, sexual assault and violence, suicide, houselessness, and other real problems. That a Governor would waste time feeding a national lie because a few ineffective extremist lawmakers told him to – well, that says it all. The Dunleavy Administration has been like a ship without a steering system. It has a rudder, yet the rudder is seemingly not attached to anything as the ship careens wildly at the mercy of the waves.
Our Nation’s only Arctic state is in the middle of the most significant climate crisis in a million years – sure, it makes perfect sense to cut the Alaska Climate Action Leadership Team! Let’s beg the federal government for disaster funding when fisheries collapse due to warming oceans, when villages are battered or washed away by climate-related flooding. Let’s simultaneously complain heartily about the federal government. Make sense? No.
Let’s claim to be a law and order candidate and then offer budgets that strangle the early childhood education system (where a healthy, lawful society takes root), underfund public safety, and cramp the corrections system. Speaking of corrections – 16 inmates have died in custody this year alone, which is the highest rate in 20 years. What in the hell is going on here? Don’t expect this administration to put much into it – they are too busy misusing state funds for campaign purposes this time of year. Or they are too busy filing unsuccessful lawsuits or defending themself in court against successful lawsuits for violating the constitutional rights of state employees. Or perhaps they are too busy hiring friends and cronies for state-funded contracts. Or dealing with the fallout from scandals, including Attorney General appointees with a history of sexual assault. Who knows what they are doing, and who cares anymore?
It is time for this experiment in angry, partisan, petty, and incoherent governance to end. “War all the time” is the title of a poetry collection by Charles Bukowski, and that line sums up the Dunleavy years. In a pinch while on the water, should your steering system be broken, you can put a pipewrench on the tiller arm and steer back to port. It is time to do just that so we can get back to port and make some repairs. While we are in port, let’s hire a new captain and send this one packing.

The Alaska Center\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”5″ ][cs_element_button _id=”6″ ][cs_content_seo]More Hot Takes In A Cold Place\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][/cs_content]

Time to vote for reason.

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[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_text _id=”4″ ][cs_content_seo]Election season can make a person approach their mailbox with caution. It is hard to know what new flood of glossy mailers will fly out when you open the box as we get closer to election day. As you struggle with the question of what to do with all of these flyers – recycle them, tack them on the outhouse wall, use them for their marginal fire-starting capacity or keep them around for posterity on the coffee table – one thing is clear, the enormity of the questions before us this year is driving this daily mailbox assault.
You must vote. Voting is your role in deciding the future of Alaska. This year, in addition to voting for your local candidate who will bring your values and voice to Juneau, we will also vote for a Governor who will shape the politics of the next four years statewide for better or worse. We will also vote for a Congressional delegation representing Alaska’s voice in Washington D.C., and whether to hold a Constitutional Convention.
Whether to hold a convention is before us every decade and Alaskans have always said no by a large margin. Still, this year, due to arguments over the Permanent Fund Dividend, public funding for education, women’s reproductive freedom, the independence of the judiciary, and a limitless number of other political divisions in the state, backers of a convention are hoping there will be momentum for a yes vote this year. We cannot understate the danger of a Constitutional Convention at this moment.
Some candidates backing a convention want to turn Alaska into a place where women and LGBTQ2S+ people have fewer rights than men. They want to turn our state into a place where the judiciary is a pawn of the Governor and where corporations and wealthy individuals unduly influence the outcome of elections. It is time to hold these candidates accountable. We do this by voting.
Far-right incumbents in the State House and Senate have enabled Governor Dunleavy in his efforts to undermine Democracy and cut the state budget to the point where it can barely function. These are not responsible lawmakers.
At every turn, legislators like Oathkeeper David Eastman of Wasilla (who was at the January 6th rally-turned-insurrection) obstruct, grandstand, and delay lawmaking. Thankfully, a lawsuit has determined that Eastman is ineligible to serve because of his membership in the insurrectionist Oathkeepers organization, and lawmaker Lora Reinbold is retiring. But these leaders used the Covid-19 public health emergency in their time to create a political circus. Unfortunately, they are followed by candidates like Jamie Allard, who also excels at grandstanding, controversy, and spiteful anti-semitic acts. All of these candidates need to pack their bags.
Kenai Peninsula legislators Sarah Vance, Ben Carpenter, and Ron Gilham defy their own oath of office to protect the Constitution by seeking to have Alaska join the Texas lawsuit that sought to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Candidates who do not believe in free and democratic elections, promote harmful and dangerous conspiracy theories and work to undermine our Democracy have no place in Alaska politics.
There should also be no place for candidates who work against climate solutions or support Pebble Mine, maybe the most unpopular mining proposal ever in the state. Candidates who happily cash donations from the Pebble CEO for their campaigns (Mia Costello, Stanley Wright) or who have voted to support a Pebble appointee for the Board of Fish (Tom McKay, David Nelson, Laddie Shaw, among others) are not the leaders we need to see in a state that’s experiencing the climate crisis at 10x the national rate.
Extremist candidates and lawmakers put a strain on the body politic. By voting in reasonable, thoughtful candidates, we send a strong message that Alaska policymaking is essential, makes a difference in people’s lives, and is a space that welcomes a diversity of opinions. This November, it’s time to get back closer to being on track. Alaska politics have always been wild and full of surprises, so we should be under no illusion that being on track means a straight line from point A to point B. The road ahead will be challenging, but we can travel the road with greater dignity by voting out extremist candidates and holding accountable those who want to take away human rights.
Absentee ballots for the November 8 midterm elections are hitting mailboxes. Early voting will begin on October 24. You can find information on early voting sites near you at this website: https://www.elections.alaska.gov/avo/

The Alaska Center IE\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”5″ ][cs_element_button _id=”6″ ][cs_content_seo]Make a donation today to help us elect leaders who share our vision and values.\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”7″ ][cs_element_text _id=”8″ ][cs_content_seo]Paid for and approved by The Alaska Center IE, 808 E St, Suite 100, Anchorage, Alaska 99501. Susan Klein, Chair. The top contributors to The Alaska Center IE are Farhad Ebrahimi (Boston, MA), and Service Employee’s International Union 775 Quality Care Committee (Seattle, WA), and Stephen D Robbins (Anchorage, AK).

This NOTICE TO VOTERS is required by Alaska law. The Alaska Center IE certifies that this communication is not authorized, paid for, or approved by the candidate.

A majority of contributions to The Alaska Center IE came from outside the State of Alaska.

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Indigenous Peoples Day

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Indigenous Peoples Day is on Monday. It was created as a state holiday through legislation signed into law in 2017 by former Governor Walker in a ceremony held during Utqiaġvik’s annual Nalukataq whaling festival. It replaces Columbus Day, and it is a small step toward atonement for the colonialism of our American and Alaskan history. 

On this Indigenous Peoples Day, let’s not focus only on the importance of Indigenous leadership in the historic, amazing, hopeful, wonderful, progressive, life-affirming, joyful, and extremely well-earned election of Mary Peltola, the first Indigenous Alaskan to ever in the history of planet earth, serve in the United States Congress. Let’s not only focus on the justice of the appointment of Deb Haaland to oversee Indigenous lands and waters as the first Indigenous Secretary of the Interior. Let’s not only focus on the myriad ways Indigenous leadership has and will continue to move policies forward in Alaska – from Tribal Recognition to Language Revitalization to Subsistence Rights and Salmon Protection.

On this Indigenous Peoples Day, let’s focus on and give thanks for the Indigenous leadership and stewardship that has created the Alaska we live in today. From Utqiagvik to Metlakatla.  Think of the thousands of years of human experience in the mountains and rivers, at the ocean shore, in the muskegs, taiga, forests, and tundra. Let’s give thanks today to those who lived and worked and played here for thousands of years and will for thousands of years to come.

We at The Alaska Center recognize the colonial structures inherent in the history of the conservation movement, including the historical displacement of Indigenous communities from land and policies that have negatively impacted Indigenous hunting and fishing rights. We will be celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day in honor of all those Alaska Native leaders on whose lands we are blessed to live and continue working toward a more equitable and just future.

We are in this together,
The Alaska Center Team

EVENTS YOU CAN JOIN:

Strength in Unity Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Rally

Indigenous Peoples Day Beading Workshop

Indigenous Peoples Day Hkaditali Ceremony w/APF

Indigenous Peoples Day Celebration

A Constitutional Convention would be costly and dangerous.

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Alaskans have a duty to examine the question of rewriting the constitution every ten years. However, voters have never approved opening up the whole constitution after it was first crafted in 1956 and laid the legal foundation for what was to become the State of Alaska in 1959.

Why We Endorse Voting No On A Constitutional Convention

There are some in Alaska who wish to modify portions of the constitution largely to rearrange the social fabric of Alaska and to one degree or another, but all scenarios where we hold a convention and rework our laws come with challenges intended and not intended.
If we vote to hold a Constitutional Convention, the result will be confusion, debate, and amplification of societal divisions. Delegates are to be elected, which will likely result in incumbent lawmakers who know well how to run in elections forming the majority of the delegates. We will then have the same folks who can’t agree on an annual budget or who to name as Speaker of the House, in charge of rewriting potentially the entire state constitution. Any estimate on time-frames for this Convention had best be doubled, tripled, or quadrupled. The same goes for the cost estimate just to hold the Convention.

A Constitutional Convention in Alaska will be a battleground for national politics. High-profile politicians from around the country will weigh in. Money from nationwide groups will pour in to help sow confusion, tip the scales, distract and divide Alaskans. Koch Brothers will pour money in. National Right to Life groups will pour money in. Religious Education groups will pour money in. The national sport-fish lobby will pour money in. Global mining and oil and gas will pour money in. Local non-profit groups will battle one another on social media and public forums. Neighbors, already believing that Civil War is imminent and that the political system is rigged, will have even more reason to stay away from the neighborhood barbecue.

The battle over the foundational document for our legal system in Alaska will be as ugly as anything we have seen in our political lives. In the end, millions will be spent lobbying delegates. The state will incur tens of millions of dollars in legal costs associated with holding and defending the Convention and rewriting all of the statutes that will be altered or invalidated by the changed constitutional language.
After years of acrimony, division, debate, and influence by outside lobby, the outcome could be a constitution that changes fundamental protections for land and water. For instance – Article 8 of the constitution states that:

“The legislature shall provide for the utilization, development, and conservation of all natural resources belonging to the State, including land and waters, for the maximum benefit of its people. Wherever occurring in their natural state, fish, wildlife, and waters are reserved to the people for common use.”

A few tweaks to the language and private companies that impact salmon habitat, and increase climate change could end up with greater rights than Alaskans. Decision makers could abolish the Judicial Council and our state judiciary’s independence paving the way for measures that could erode our democracy. You can bet that attorneys for the delegates will insert numerous poison pills throughout the constitution whose impact will not be known when the new document is ratified.

Alaskans have enough on their plate fighting climate change, protecting our democracy, our salmon runs, and the health of our communities. A big, expensive and divisive battle to rewrite the very foundation of our state’s laws is not wise. Recall again that when the constitution was initially written, it was by a group of individuals fighting for statehood. At the end of the day, they were aligned around a common purpose. A convention today lacks that spirit entirely and would be good for fanning the flames of division but bad for Alaska.

Vote No on One,
The Alaska Center

The Primary, Special, and General Election Ahead

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[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_text _id=”4″ ][cs_content_seo]Hi all,
I’m excited to share with you that The Alaska Center Board of Directors has wrapped up our endorsement process! 
As a part of this process, the Board considers a questionnaire that asks about our core issues, including climate, democracy, equity, Pebble Mine, records and voting history, and candidate code of conduct statements and actions. 
I’m thrilled to share The Alaska Center endorsements: 32 candidates for the state legislature, Mary Peltola for the special election for US Congress, and Pat Chesbro for US Senate (and, in case you missed it, our gubernatorial endorsement from the other week). In 5 legislative races, The Alaska Center recommends a ranking order for the general election, with the knowledge that our votes are most powerful when we rank our choices.\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][cs_element_layout_column _id=”5″ ][cs_element_button _id=”6″ ][cs_content_seo]Check Out Our Endorsements Here\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][cs_element_layout_column _id=”7″ ][cs_element_text _id=”8″ ][cs_content_seo]We need leaders on every level who will stand up for our clean air and water, healthy communities, and strong democracy. And in this election, it is critical that we maintain and grow the bipartisan majority in the State House and build more power in the State Senate. 
These elections will determine the next two years of legislative advocacy, but the legislation that our leaders pass will determine our future decades from now. It’s past time that we pass the critical legislation. We need to establish a Renewable Portfolio Standard to help our state meet renewable goals, we must create a ballot-curing process for voters, and it’s far past time we pass more comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation. These candidates will decide whether we have to spend our time fighting off proposals from a hostile administration or devote more energy to creating the future we want to see.
Voting great leaders into office is essential to creating a thriving, just, and sustainable future. Make sure you’re ready to vote here!
Best,
Jenny-Marie Stryker
Political Director
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Rank it, Flip it, Be Heard

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Ranked-Choice voting is here, Alaska! Our new ranked-choice voting system will be used for the first time on August 16 to fill former Rep. Don Young’s seat in the House of Representatives. It’s time to learn about the process and start researching to choose candidates and ballot measures that represent your values.

The open primary in June narrowed the field of primary candidates down to three: Sarah Palin, Nick Begich, and Mary Peltola. At the same time they rank candidates for the special election, voters will also choose one primary candidate to advance to the general election for the permanent House position along with Governor/Lt. Governor, US Senate, and State Senate and House Representatives for various districts across the state. You will pick one candidate for each of the primary races on the front of your ballot, then flip your ballot and rank the three running for the US. Special Election.

After voters make their choices on Election Day, all the absentee, early, and election day ballots will be counted, and all voters’ first-place choices will be tallied. If no candidate gets over 50% of the votes in the first round, the least popular candidate will be eliminated, and the votes for them reassigned to their voters’ second-choice picks. This process will continue until one candidate has over half of the votes. While it is not required to rank all four (or, in this case, three) candidates, it is recommended because it means that your voice can be heard throughout the entire election, not just in the first round.

While ranked-choice voting is brand new in Alaska, it’s used successfully in states and cities throughout the country, including for federal elections in Maine and recently in the election for New York City mayor. Ranked-choice voting is just as secure and effective as more traditional voting forms. The new system means that our votes will go further, and our preferences will still be counted even if our first-choice candidate doesn’t win.

Because the August 16 election is a statewide general election, it will be conducted in person at local polling places, unlike recent Anchorage Municipal elections and special primaries. Anyone who wishes to vote by mail for any reason must request an absentee ballot at least ten days before Election Day and make sure that their ballot is postmarked on or before election day.
It’s important to be an informed voter on Election Day. Stay tuned for next week’s blog to learn which candidates The Alaska Center will be endorsing for races across the state.
As always, thanks for voting.
The Alaska Center