By CRAIG CAMPBELL
In just two weeks we have the opportunity to repeal Ranked Choice Voting, known as RCV.
In 2020, RCV proponents employed a magician’s “sleight of hand” trick; campaigning on eliminating dark money from Alaska and rarely mentioning RCV in order to push Ballot Measure 2.
That year, Ballot Measure 2 barely passed with just 50.55% in favor, and 49.45% opposed, ushering RCV into Alaska with the slimmest of majorities.
This year we have the chance to repeal RCV and return our state to its former traditional election process. However, voters are facing an unprecedented push by No on 2 to defeat this grassroots initiative, and the No on 2 campaign has over $12.3 million to flood the airways with deceptive advertising.
Take, for example, the advertisement where No on 2, which is funded by out-of-state organizations, claims that if RCV is repealed military personnel would be forced to join a political party to participate in the election process.
Balderdash! Military members never had to join a political party to vote in Alaska’s primary or general elections, and would not after RCV is repealed either.
While the Republican Party of Alaska had a partially closed primary process prior to 2020, those who did not affiliate themselves with a different political party had the ability to vote in the Republican primary. Alternatively, they had the option to vote using the non-Republican ballot. Claiming military members had to choose a party to be able to vote is frankly dishonest, and disingenuous to service members and veterans. The real issue is whether RCV should be repealed.
So why is the No on 2 campaign only focused on the open primary process, when RCV is the real issue? The fact is they know most Alaskans do not support RCV because it convolutes the election process and does not ensure the winner represents who the majority favors.
Their ads claim that under the current system people can vote for the person they believe is the best candidate in the primary process. Left unsaid is the fact that during the general election, under RCV, voters rank four candidates, not one. That results in a complicated process, which in 2022 elected Democrat Mary Peltola to Congress when the primary had the two Republicans collectively garner more votes than she did. So much for “One Person, One Vote.”
An open primary is not the main objective of No on 2. Their goal is to preserve their holy grail: RCV. In a democratic society, we should be allowed to separately vote on different issues. Combining two disrelated topics creates a “Hobson’s Choice” for voters. A person may like one issue but not the other, but to get the issue they favor passed, they must approve the issue they do not support. That’s election manipulation at its finest and No on 2 is a master at this fraudulent deceptive maneuver.
There is a simple solution to this problem: Vote Yes on Ballot Measure 2 and repeal RCV. Bring back election integrity to Alaska and get rid of the RCV election scheme. Then, either the Legislature or a citizen’s initiative can address the open primary issue as a single topic.
Remember, RCV resulted in a convicted felon in a New York prison to be on our ballot for congress next month. The absurdity of this is outrageous. It’s time to terminate this failed RCV experiment. Vote Yes on Ballot Measure 2 to repeal RCV.
Craig E. Campbell served on the Anchorage Assembly between 1986 and 1995 and later as Alaska’s Tenth Lieutenant Governor. He was the previous Chief Executive Officer and President for Alaska Aerospace Corporation. He retired from the Alaska National Guard as Lieutenant General (AKNG) and holds the concurrent retired Federal rank of Major General (USAF).
