The Alaska Supreme Court on Saturday upheld the Division of Elections’ handling of a 2024 ballot initiative that sought to repeal the state’s open primary and ranked-choice voting system—months after voters narrowly rejected the measure at the polls. The full opinion can be read here.
The legal challenge, brought by Alaska residents La quen náay Elizabeth Medicine Crow, Amber Lee, and Kevin McGee, alleged that the Division of Elections improperly certified initiative 22AKHE for the ballot by allowing its sponsors to correct errors in signature booklets after the statutory filing deadline.
The repeal initiative, sponsored by Art Mathias, Phil Izon, and Jamie Donley, aimed to overturn Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system, which was adopted by voters in 2020 and first used in 2022.
Represented by attorneys Scott Kendall (who was the primary author of ranked-choice voting in Alaska,) Jahna Lindemuth (attorney general under Gov. Bill Walker,) Samuel G. Gottstein, and C. Maeve Kendall of Cashion Gilmore & Lindemuth in Anchorage, the law-fare challengers, hoping to stop the petition from success, argued that the Division violated Alaska statutes and regulations by accepting post-deadline corrections to circulator certifications. They cited issues such as an expired notary commission having been used on a petition and claimed the Division’s actions undermined the integrity of the initiative process.
In an earlier ruling, Anchorage Superior Court Judge Christina Rankin had granted summary judgment in favor of the Division of Elections and the petition sponsors, holding that Alaska Statute 15.45.130 allows corrections to circulator certifications during the Division’s 60-day review period, as long as those corrections are made before signatures are counted.
The court also found that the Division’s actions did not violate regulatory requirements. It concluded that the certification issues identified by the challengers did not qualify as “patent defects,” meaning they were not clearly detectable during the initial review. Furthermore, the court ruled that the “single instrument” requirement for petition booklets did not bar corrections to individual pages. A mistake on one line in the petition should not invalidate the entire booklet.
Following a bench trial, some signatures and booklets were disqualified due to procedural errors, but the court found that enough valid signatures remained to keep the initiative on the ballot.
Initiative 22AKHE went before voters in November, 2024 and was narrowly defeated — by 743 votes. The repeal group was outspent and tied up fighting the lawsuit in court, or would likely have won. The group supporting the repeal of ranked-choice voting (Yes on 2 campaign) was outspent by the opposition (No on 2 campaign) by a margin of approximately 100 to 1. The Yes on 2 campaign raised around $489,000, while the No on 2 campaign raised nearly $14 million, nearly all from Outside dark money groups and wealthy out-of-state Democrats.
The challengers then appealed the Superior Court’s summary judgment decision to the Alaska Supreme Court. In its June 27 ruling, the high court unanimously affirmed the lower court’s interpretation of the relevant statutes and regulations. The justices agreed that the Division had acted lawfully in accepting certification corrections within the 60-day review window and confirmed that the initiative was properly placed on the ballot.
“The Court agreed with our statutory interpretation arguments about correcting petition booklet certificates after the petition is filed but before the review is complete. The Division of Elections administers elections with the highest level of professional integrity and fairness. I’m happy to see that reflected in this important court ruling,” said Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor.
The decision concludes a prolonged legal battle over the petition process and reaffirms the Division of Elections’ discretion in administering Alaska’s direct democracy procedures. Although the repeal effort was unsuccessful at the ballot box, the court’s ruling ensures that the process by which it reached voters will stand as a precedent for future citizen-led initiatives.
Another repeal effort is already under way, collecting signatures to submit to the Division of Elections and take the matter to the people for a vote once again on whether to return to normal voting in Alaska.
I hope Repeal get reimbursed for attorney fees and any other possible benefits for having to deal with the constant legal harassment.
Ranked Choice Cheating is an abomination and should be banned in all states. Socialist ploy to ensure who counts the votes determines the outcome. Delays in counting, no transparency on how votes are “allocated” in each round is UNCONSTITUTIONAL. One vote per seat per election. Voter ID with paper ballots should be hand counted. No more rigged ballot counting software. Clean up Alaska Voter Rolls. No more automatic enrollment. No register and vote the same day, etc. etc.
No more dark money lies. State Attorney General should have forced the ads saying RCC would hurt military to be pulled and the dark money PACs should have been fined and banned from placing any adds. Someone should be proofing voter inform prior to mailing to ensure NO errors or misleading information. Use rock star names or Jack and Jill.
I wonder why the Democrats are so desperate to prevent this?
Lack of faith in their con job?
Yes.
Thanks, Alaska Supremes. No one undermines the integrity of the initiative process. It’s their playground where they get to bully the other kids while the teacher isn’t looking. This isn’t over. They’ll invite all their dark money friends for the next election to pour millions of that outside money that Scott Kendall promised would be eliminated from our election process. He knew full well it wouldn’t. He knows full well it isn’t. It won’t be over until RCV has been defeated at the ballot box and Kendall is forced in shame to leave the state with his crooked little tail between his crooked little legs. Now, let’s all hope that overturning RCV isn’t hamstrung by that other (D)emocrat abortion: April elections that, for some reason, pretty much only (D)ems only turn out for.
So… this is about the initiative that failed (narrowly at the last second) in 2024? Last year?
A lawsuit was still in the works over an initiative that has already been voted on?
.
Yep… seems like a good use of the court’s time to me.
No, it was a decision that started last March after the State approved my petition to make the ballot.
Kendall and Co. sued the State saying we committed fraud and the state shouldn’t have certified the petition.
We won in the Alaska Superior Court. After 6 hours of deposition by me and another 2 hours of testimony on the stand.
He then appealed to the Alaska Supreme Court m, which deliberated for an hour before deciding in my favor.
They said the final written order would be available at some time in the future. Which is now.
“The Yes on 2 campaign raised around $489,000, while the No on 2 campaign raised nearly $14 million, nearly all from Outside dark money groups and wealthy out-of-state Democrats.”
“Cashion Gilmore & Lindemuth in Anchorage.” From their web site, “We have practiced extensively in rural Alaska and represent clients statewide.”
Wasn’t the hold-up in vote-counting in rural Alaska where we suddenly lost?
There are 3 “Kendalls” working at this law firm and one of them claims to be a “strategic consultant.” See: ‘https://cashiongilmore.com/anchorage-attorneys/
Very good point, we lost by a very narrow fraction of a percent. So you have some great points. Seems someone should do an investigation. Especially considering we had 10 people that were not citizens voting and were caught. How many illegals voted and were caught? 700?
Thanks for the link to the site showing the feral snake in it’s natural habitat.
Kendall and his wife both work there. Who’s the third? Name?
That shyster Kendall got what he wanted, he cost the repeal side boatloads of money and time and it barely failed. He’ll be around for another big,fat dark money paycheck again next time. Its not a bit about justice or law with microbes like that one its all a big game , with a fat wallet as,a,reward he’s exactly the kind that gives the legal profession its abysmal reputation
Fourteen million. From people who are not even Alaska residents. Let that sink in. Why do leftists always fight so viciously against honest, transparent elections? They cannot win in Alaska unless they cheat, and they know it. Nothing is too dirty, too dishonest. As long as they reach their end goal, they feel morally justified.
“Dark Money.” Lisa is familiar with it.
You can support the new campaign to STOP ranked-choice voting in Alaska here: repealnowak.com
Honesty and ethics in politics is that the people believe in and support a party’s ideas. When a party must resort to ‘lawfare’ to force their policies onto the public, a fundamental rule is broken!