Two liberal legislators Zack Fields (D) and Rebecca Himshoot (I) and conservative-leaning former legislator Jesse Sumner (R) formed the “Stop Election Manipulation Initiative Committee” and proposed an initiative that requires anyone seeking to run for office to first obtain a certain number of signatures from Alaska voters to qualify for the ballot. The initiative would also more than triple filing fees.
The proposed initiative would require candidates for Governor/ Lt. Governor, U.S. Senator, and U.S. Representative to obtain 1,000 signatures from qualified Alaska voters to appear on the ballot. Candidates for state senator would need 100 signatures from qualified Alaskan voters in the same senate district and candidates for state representative would need 50 in the same house district.
The proposed initiative would also more than triple filing fees for candidates, raising the filing fee for Governor, Lt. Governor, U.S. Senate, and U.S. Representative from $100 to $500 and the filing fee for state legislative office from $30 to $100. The sponsors claim the increased filing fees would “offset the costs for the Alaska Division of Elections to validate the signatures.”
The sponsors of the initiative argue these requirements would reduce election manipulation and weed out less serious candidates. They point to incarcerated felon Eric Hafner (D) being included on the ballot for the U.S. Representative race despite never having been to Alaska as an example of the problem the initiative seeks to solve.
The sponsors claim, “pundits have wrongly attributed this phenomenon to Alaska’s open primary, ranked choice voting system.” They do not acknowledge that Eric Hafner received only 3.8% of the primary votes but still advanced to the general election ballot because of Alaska’s top four primary and ranked-choice voting system. If the election followed Alaska’s pre-2020 election rules, Eric Hafner would not appear on the general election ballot.
The 2026 candidates for Alaska’s U.S. Representative seat are Republican incumbent Nick Begich, liberal independent Bill Hill, incarcerated Democrat Eric Hafner, and Libertarian James C. “Jim” McDermott. Nick Begich held a steady lead, receiving 44.6% of the primary vote. Bill Hill received 32.5% of the primary vote, and the other two candidate received less than 5% each.
The initiative has been submitted to the Alaska Division of Elections for approval. The Division has 60 days from the date of submission to review and certify or deny the initiative’s ballot language.
Read the full press release:
