By SEN. MIKE SHOWER
I wore our nation’s uniform for 24 years. I voted in many elections, while active duty and since retiring. Most were as an Alaska resident, moving here in 1993.
Not one time, as a registered voter, was I denied my constitutional right to vote. Service members could always vote in primaries regardless of party affiliation before ranked-choice voting and jungle primaries were installed in Alaska in 2020. They can vote now with RCV, and if Alaskans vote to repeal RCV in November, service members will be able to vote in primaries as they did before.
The stakes are high with Ballot Measure 2, a citizen led initiative which aims to end the ranked choice voting scheme. However, don’t think for a second those who wish to “save” ranked-choice voting in Alaska care about Alaska. How can I make such a bold statement?
The pro-RCV crowd have one mission, to spend millions of dollars of dark money flowing into Alaska from Lower 48 billionaires and left-wing groups, in the hope of saving RCV from being repealed. Why?
It is simple: Alaska is being used as the guinea pig to spread RCV to the rest of the nation. Our own congresswoman is spending time in other states pushing RCV. They are saying we love RCV, and it works great. Those two statements don’t hold up to scrutiny, even beyond the fear mongering lie about service members being unable to vote. Polling data has been consistent. RCV is not well liked by Alaskans and a sizable majority wish to see it gone.
Here’s the kicker: If Alaska repeals ranked voting in November, it will put the brakes on the pro RCV national campaign because the logical question across the Lower 48 will be “If it’s so great – why did Alaskans repeal it after only four years?”
Indeed.
Can you see it now? It seems “no low is too low” for those trying to save ranked voting – even going so far as to blatantly lie to our military men & women trying to “scare” them into voting No on 2. I find this despicable.
The dark money pro-RCV alliance has falsely claimed that repealing RCV would prohibit the military from voting unless they registered with a political party.
False! Not being affiliated with a political party does not stop anyone from voting in elections, including our military. It is deceptive at best, and election interference at worst, to actively undermine the democratic process by spreading disinformation to voters.
The pro-RCV crowd is skating on thin ice. Will news, social media and others do the right thing and correct the false narrative? If not, perhaps Alaskan’s need to demand legal action. The dark money they claimed they would eliminate when they urged us to vote for RCV four years ago is now being used to persuade us to keep it.
When you enjoy a great meal at a restaurant, do they keep spending money trying to convince you it was great? Of course not, because you simply know. Alaskans know we got burned by the dark money lie and the ‘virtues’ of RCV the first time. Alaskans aren’t buying it this second time around.
Proponents of RCV understand repealing it in Alaska would undermine their national campaign, and their desperation to save it is evident. This explains why they have over $7.8 million of outside dark money being spent while Alaskans opposing RCV have only a few tens of thousands – almost all from Alaskans.
Talk about a David and Goliath battle! It’s time we told the Lower 48 to butt out of our internal politics and leave us to be the fiercely independent political state we are.
Repealing RCV will stop the disenfranchisement of senior citizens, minorities, English language learners, and individuals with less than a high school education. Studies have shown ranked voting directly contributes to voter suppression among these groups. RCV is so troublesome in fact, the Alaska democrat party recently filed a lawsuit over a democrat candidate on the congressional ballot. They said RCV could “cause confusion and take votes from their ‘preferred’ candidate”. I agree RCV is a mess.
We can do better than this – and we must!
I have had the honor of serving Alaskans as a state senator for 7 years and have been at the forefront of election issues. It’s clear to me as a veteran and elected official the time has come to end ranked choice voting.
Send the message. Vote YES on 2 in November. YES on 2 will repeal ranked choice voting and put us back to a simple, easy to understand system of one person – one vote.
Sen. Mike Shower represents Wasilla, District O, in the Alaska Legislature.
Thank you for setting the record straight. Many people are being “LIED TO” that RCV is presenting..
Repealing RCV is voting YES on the ballot.
I heard that ad on the radio last week, I was fuming by the time it was over knowing that they lied by trying to gain sympathy from military, first responders and vets. They are getting desperate because they know the repeal is coming in November.
Exactly, when I saw that ad, it made this veteran mad. USMC 71-78.
You go Mike! The truth will prevail if we stand up to outside money and bad politics. Murkowski wanted rank choice voting to save her butt in the primaries as she will never win a closed primary. Vote yes on 2!
Sen. Mike Shower great article .. Thank you for your service and all you do for Alaska
This needs to be mass advertised just like all the Mary ads.
The people behind this need to get this out to the people state wide.
agree
I was a nonpartisan for over 30 years until this year. I could not vote in the presidential primary without joining a party, and that’s BECAUSE of RCV. As a nonpartisan, I have always been able to vote in primaries had was able to choose whether I voted the Democrat or Republican ballot.
If people really want more choices, then maybe make it easier for candidates to get on a ballot, but don’t think RCV is the answer. It is clearly not.
The presidential primaries are conducted by the parties still as caucuses or preference polls. Parties at the state and then national level advance the presidential candidates. There is no primary for the presidential race on the state ballot. The primaries in Alaska only pertain to the other races, such as senator, representative, and legislative seats.- sd
Vote YES on 2 to repeal ranked-choice voting. Thank you, Senator Shower. 🇺🇸
Lies are all the Left has. Nothing they say or do can stand on truth or its own merit.
Political lies often win elections. Where is the Alaskan Republican Party on this issue? Silent!
Just vote “YES” on this election issue of RCV. It is too big an issue to not understand how to vote on this ballot item.
Thanks Mike for being who we elected and standing tall and strong representing us in the best possible way.
Your actions and commitment are so different than those of others who failed to deliver like James Kaufman who was quick to bow to his Democrat leaders and put them in charge which we will NEVER forget especially on selection day. There will be a price to pay for incompetence.
Interesting comments on Ranked Choice Voting! RCV was chosen at the ballot box and will be challenged once again.
The demographics of Alaska are indeed unique, which is the reason RCV works here. Over 50% of registered voters in Alaska are Independent or undeclared. Republicans about 25% and Democrats about 16%. Prior to RCV party officials hand picked candidates. Yes there were “primaries” for show but over 50% of Alaskans never had the opportunity to weigh in on candidates. Party elites made the actual decisions on who should run and we “the lemmings” smiled and went along with the show.
Well now the total electorate gets a chance to set the slate. Why should 25 or 16 % determine who runs for office? Why not everyone?
Alaskan demographic distribution cries for the type of voting RCV offers.
The last two election cycles proved that point. It is unlikely that voters will give up their right to choose candidates. Why would over 50% of Alaskan voters vote to lose their right to vote?
Because RCV is a parlor trick and you are falling for it. The entire push for RCV has come from political elites that are full of deceit and lies. And the entire motivation is to give Democrats, and only democrats, much more power in this state, even it if requires deceiving the voters with lies and large sums funding from out of state interests, which they have. If you deny that, then you are willfully making yourself ignorant. And, you will not see these same out of state political groups pushing RCV in Washington, Oregon, or California.
We evolved to have the system we have for a good reason. Primaries allow people with the same vision to put forth their best candidate that they want the most because the person represents the vision the best. What you think is better is having the Bears get to decide who the Packers get to play for quarterback because it will make a more even match, which would just lower the quality of football being played and allow much more shenanigans. Do you remember Al Gross dropping out of the race all of sudden for no clear reason?
And it doesn’t matter if there are no primaries. It’s all about who gets financial backing. Do you think some guy with $500 is going to get anywhere further with RCV, especially if he is a Democrat but Democrat elites don’t like what he says. Ask RFK Jr. about that and see if he thinks RCV would have solved his problems.
My second choice shouldn’t be made into my first choice. We should feel the person that won the race won in a clear way. 2020 should be a clear example of why that is so abundantly important. And I will remind you too that the majority did not make Peltola or any democrat their first choice. The majority voted Republican, yet a democrat won. Do you really think that is going to make people feel heard? And Democrat elites saw Tara Sweeny as a threat because if she were allowed to take Al Gross’s spot, she would have taken the centrists’ second vote instead of Peltola. Do you think the average voter even follows and understands strategies like that? You shouldn’t because respectfully, I don’t think you do.
That’s why wise people voted against it before and why they will vote to repeal it. You speak like it passed because Alaskans clearly wanted it. It barely passed and was going to fail until the very end when it just barely squeaked through: the “yes” vote received 50.55% of the total votes, while the “no” vote received 49.45%
“Over 50% of registered voters in Alaska are Independent or undeclared.”
The previous open primaries allowed anyone to select whatever ballot they wanted. The independents/undeclared voters were able to vote in the primaries. Then RCV/Jungle Primaries came along and screwed that up.
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“Yes there were “primaries” for show but over 50% of Alaskans never had the opportunity to weigh in on candidates.”
No, they were primaries where any voter could request a Republican ballot, a Democrat ballot or an issues/ballot measures only ballot. What you describe is not reality.
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“Party elites made the actual decisions on who should run and we “the lemmings” smiled and went along with the show.”
And… here is the “terrible boogeyman” argument. News flash, that is not what happened, and it never was. I need look no further than the year Joe Miller beat Murkowski in the primary. Tell me the “party elites” control the candidates. Please. Explain that one to me.
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“Well now the total electorate gets a chance to set the slate. Why should 25 or 16 % determine who runs for office? Why not everyone?”
First of all, because that 25% or 16% have the spine to actually be members of their political party.
Secondly, if it really is the “party elites” setting the slate, what is your point here? Either the party elites set the general election ballot, or the members of the party do. (And, it also ignores the fact (yes, FACT) that independents/undeclared voters could vote either party’s primary ballot.
Finally… what is the voter turn out for the primaries, either the open primary or prior to RCV the party primaries? Unless you can demonstrate that the open primaries had significantly higher voter turn out, your point is not a point at all.
A well presented diatribe. However, not one reason why anyone should not be allowed to run for office and Why all Alaskans shouldn’t be allowed to select candidates.
It is not a myth! Our party elites select the candidates! Then we vote!
Open primaries put choice in the hands of the voters .
RCV follows the primary and certainly has its own issues !
I received the “No on two” trash mail as well. As a vet, it was insulting of the blatant lie to chose to project. What really pissed me off- Who paid for it. All out of state communist held cities.
Gail- the reason why most Alaskans have gone “undeclared” is we’re tired of the polling telephone calls and call banks begging for money. “Undeclared” does not mean we’re voting communist -er democrat.
Every campaign in this state for RCV is full of deceit and lies. The ads for it before said it was to get rid of dark money while the ad itself and the entire initiative was funded by dark money.
Just had someone knock on my door to tell me how I should vote against taking RCV away. That person was working for Alaska Center for Education, a non profit that gets donations that are tax deductible. But if you go to their site it is all Democrat propaganda, endorsements for local Democrat candidates, and programs so they can indoctrinate kids to become the next Greta Thunberg. My blood boils at this level of brash self righteous arrogance. 1.8% of their funding comes from fundraising while the rest comes from grants and dark “contributions”.
I don’t know what can be done to stop this evasive crap, but first and foremost, the state should not be allowing this non-profit to be claiming they are “non-partisan” so they can qualify for tax deductible donations and government grants. If they have cleverly navigated the legal language so they can operate this way, legislation should be passed to plug the loopholes they are obviously using.
RCV is a wildcard that helps subvert the will of the majority and elect unpopular candidates (Murkoski, Peltola). I am all for RCV in democrat strongholds like Oregon and California!
This veteran is ANGRY that the people who told this lie think we are mindless simpletons to believe this garbage! Talk about spreading disinformation! What a crock…how are they getting away with this? Please publicly decry this group for the liars and criminals they are!
We all must keep getting the message out to vote yes on ballot measure 2 while the no-side’s deceptive ads are flooding the airwaves. Since the yes-side has very few funds and the no-side has around $8 million of outside dark money to try to sway the undecided, it’s up to us. I’ve created a series of 30-90 second clips you can share to help. Won’t cost you a dime and only takes a brief moment to do. You can find the series on why we should vote yes on ballot measure 2 on my page here: Facebook.com/AKShelleyHughes Thanks, everyone! WE CAN DO THIS!
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