By ALEX GIMARC
Polling for repeal of the open primary-ranked-choice voting must be going in favor of repeal, as the anti-repeal side cranked up the rhetoric a couple notches last week.
This time around, they express their concern for Alaska military members who they claim will be denied their right to vote for a candidate of their choice should the repeal be successful.
Before the discussion, I want to remind readers that in addition to the road to a very hot place being paved with good intentions, we have the Samuel Johnson’s observation from April 1775 that “Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.”
The leftist pro-ranked-choice non-profits from outside the state are now wrapping themselves in the flag and professed love for military members stationed here in Alaska. Perhaps we need to take a look at their newest claim.
The claim is that a voter has to be a registered party member in order to vote for a candidate of that party. This, is at best, a half-truth and at worst another lie, as under Alaska Statute at the time RCV was passed (AK Stat 15.25.0606 (2019)):
(b) A voter may vote only one primary election ballot. A voter may vote a political party ballot only if the voter is registered as affiliated with that party, is allowed to participate in the party primary under the party’s bylaws, or is registered as nonpartisan or undeclared rather than as affiliated with a particular political party and the party’s bylaws do not restrict participation by nonpartisan or undeclared voters in the party’s primary.
Before 2019, state law allowed registered non-partisans or undeclared voters to vote in any party’s primary as long as that particular party did not restrict participation by non-partisans or undeclared voters in the primary. Neither the Republican Party nor the Democratic Party restricted undeclared or nonpartisan registrants.
Sounds like our Outside pro-RCV “friends” with $7.5 million to spend on ads are making it up as they go again, claiming that military members are somehow victimized by a requirement to declare they are something, anything before voting in the primary. Note that no such requirement exists for voting in the general election.
Once again, we are left with the question: If RCV is such a great thing, why are its supporters continuing to spew increasingly hysterical, fraudulent claims?
At this point they are either flopping around like a well-hooked Russian River red or simply tossing stuff against a wall trying to find out what sticks. Either way, it looks like their internal polling isn’t nearly as positive as they let on, as they’ve changed their story at least three times since ads started running.
You would think that a side with the massive spending advantage they currently hold ($7.5 million to $60,000) would at least get the messaging down correctly via focus grouping like they did in 2020.
Trouble in RCV-land? We can only hope.
Alex Gimarc lives in Anchorage since retiring from the military in 1997. His interests include science and technology, environment, energy, economics, military affairs, fishing and disabilities policies. His weekly column “Interesting Items” is a summary of news stories with substantive Alaska-themed topics. He was a small business owner and Information Technology professional.
Of course military members need RCV. Because a life without RCV is unpatriotic. Or something like that.
Military folks aren’t stupid, they know exactly how this thing works and most want it gone too.
As a military family, I find their ad completely offensive and borderline illegal.
We will be voting YES.
It is important to understand that when you go overseas the military families have an opportunity to see Fox News approximately two hours a day and the rest of the day they will be watching MSNBC ABC and CNN. So if you look at how often they can look at fake news versus a reasonable opinion, of course they are likely to vote with fake news.
Is CNN news still the only news being shown in all airports throughout the United States?
I am surprised the military, whatever that means, is allowing the use of military personnel in uniform in the ads. The ads are completely offensive to to me as a retired air force officer. Trying to USE the military in this manner is plainly wrong in my opinion. Oh, BTW, ever notice that not one of the top three donation sources is in Alaska. (Or am I confusing that with the Peltola ads?) That would cause their ads to be bogus just on the surface. Vote “yes” on this subject.
Jim, I am a vet. If you look at the commercial you can see these are all actors. There are many errors in their uniforms. I can tell they aren’t military just by looking at their faces.
I just can’t believe how they think the military are so stupid and believes every lie they produce will be “scarf” up votes. ONE thing the military does see and understand when they go overseas is how other countries’ political policies succeed or don’t succeed.
Im not sure I fully agree. I am typically undeclared and when I attempted to vote in the 2016 Republican primary for president I had to register as a republican before I was allowed to vote.
*Vote yes on prop 2
There is an explanation: The presidential primary occurs in private party primary votes all over the country and is not a statewide ballot. The parties choose their candidate through a caucus or presidential “preference poll” that binds their delegates to the national convention. What you went to was a private “caucus by ballot” system, not a public primary. Hope that helps. – sd
That does explain it. Thanks.
*Vote yes on prop 2
Wow, the left is pulling out everything to get people to leave RCV in. Evil deception. Vote YES on Ballot Measure 2 to remove ranked choice voting and return to closed primaries!
Lesil McGuire is chair of “No on 2.” How’d that happen?
Recourse against spreading cranked-up rhetoric as false news might be available through the Federal Communications Commission.
(‘https://www.fcc.gov/broadcast-news-distortion)
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Then there’s the Media and Democracy Project petition “…urg(ing) the FCC to commence an evidentiary hearing into FOX’s misdeeds, which petitioners believe will lead to denial of the renewal application,
the revocation of FOX broadcast licenses, and a determination that FOX lacks the character to
remain a licensee.”
(‘https://www.mediaanddemocracyproject.org/_files/ugd /f9547d_d59f128ca09d4106b82930d09c12c94f.pdf)
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The Media and Democracy Project’s strategy points right at broadcasters’ Achilles heel, their license renewal.
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So, why not take the fight to the enemy by petitioning FCC to deny license renewals to broadcast media who knowingly disseminate false information about Ranked Choice Voting?
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Could “Dark Money” be effectively neutralized if it were made clear to broadcasters that knowingly lying about RCV, or anything else for that matter, will jeopardize their broadcast-license renewals?
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Would “Dark Money” be a thing if broadcasters were more concerned about keeping their licenses than spreading, and profiting from, “Dark Money” lies?
The military should step in on this issue and force the truth to come out concerning this issue and make the misleading ad to be take down.
This should be sent to JBER public affairs immediately.
Figured it out. Why would the leftists pushing RCV on us focus on the military, especially with such an obvious untruth… well, distorted truth to the point it is a lie? Why would they do that?
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Think back to 2020 when that BM 2 included open primaries and RCV. The measure was losing, not badly, but the measure was losing. Right up to the last day that absentee ballots could be considered. Then suddenly, it pulled ahead by enough to make a recount a waste of time. Slightly over 4000 votes difference. The overwhelming majority of that 4,000 vote difference showed up on the last day of counting.
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What are these ads doing, if not setting the stage for a sudden surge in No on 2 votes in the final days of ballot counting. And, I will be it is just enough to save RVC. “See, we told you the military absentee voters were for RCV and voter freedoms. The daily totals prove it.”
Alex, check this out. There is another pro-RCV ad that features a youngish man named “Ahmao S.”. He is presented as a hardworking, blue-collar guy who appears to be working in an automotive maintenance shop. He supports RCV. In actuality, he is Ahmaogak Sweeney. His family works for Murkoski.
That’s a great bit of intel. Yet another example of Team Lisa being behind all things RCV. Cheers –
If Alaska’s general public had access to journalism instead of propaganda, we wouldn’t see the left be so brazen.