A bipartisan coalition of Alaska leaders today launched Defend Alaska Elections, a campaign group that will oppose Ballot Measure 2.
Ballot Measure 2 is a project by Outside special interest groups to throw out Alaska’s trusted election process and replace it with a flawed experiment that has already proven to be a failure in other states.
The campaign is led by Alaskan hero John Sturgeon, who twice defeated the federal government’s attempt to restrict Alaskans’ access to Alaska’s rivers winning two unanimous decisions at the US Supreme Court.
Sturgeon said that Ballot Measure 2 would disenfranchise Alaskan voters and undermine public confidence in the electoral process.
“One Alaskan, one vote is a bedrock principle of our democracy and critical to ensuring fair and transparent elections,” said Sturgeon. “Ballot Measure 2, funded by out-of-state billionaires and special interest groups that Alaskans have never heard of, would open the door to a flood of election manipulation and chaos that will disenfranchise thousands of Alaskan voters and weaken trust in our democratic process.”
Ballot Measure 2 would force Alaskans to elect political leaders using so-called “ranked choice voting” (RCV) in which voters are required to assign a score to every candidate on the ballot, or risk having their ballot thrown out.
Worse, RCV allows low-scoring candidates to steal elections and be certified as “winners,” even though they fail to win either a plurality or a majority of the votes cast. It’s a race to the bottom tier.
Opposition to Ballot Measure 2 crosses the political spectrum, with Republicans, Democrats, and Nonpartisan voters all concerned about the unwarranted attack on Alaska’s elections.
Former Senator Mark Begich (D) and former Governor Sean Parnell (R), writing in the July 23, 2020 Wall Street Journal, said “As former elected officials from different parties, we’ve had our share of disagreements. But we are united in our belief that the Better Elections initiative would be bad for our state. Alaskans shouldn’t have to doubt that their votes count.”
Defend Alaska Elections is also opposed to another radical element of Ballot Measure 2, which would throw out Alaska’s normal primary election and replace it with a California-style “jungle primary.” It would deprive Alaskans of their right to nominate candidates to represent their political party in the general election. It also serves to manipulate voters’ choices, by obscuring the political affiliations of those who do appear on the ballot.
“Our election system isn’t broken, and we don’t need Lower 48 powerbrokers to ‘fix’ it for us,” said Sturgeon. “Ballot Measure 2 replaces our simple and straightforward election system with a 25-page-long mess that isn’t fair, democratic, or needed.”
For more information contact Brett Huber at 907-312-6600
I am voting NO on the measure and so is my wife….and we will convince as many as we can not only to vote but to vote NO as well and why…
Thanks for keeping us Alaskans informed, once again!
‘No’ is my vote to eliminate another scourge.
Why does this feel similar to other slippery liberal antics?
Keep up the fight,,
Thank you for this clear and concise explanation of BM2, Suzanne.
Ballot 2 is The Most Important Vote facing Alaskans this November.
When was the last time Party Trusted Republicans and Party Trusted Democrats Agreed Unilaterally On a issue???
Please Vote No!
Further Contribute to the Defeat of this well organized Liberal attempt to take over our tested election system.
I get the hidden message. Begich and Parnell are against it. That means I should vote for it.
Measure 2 is a direct assaults’ against the time proven voting procedures even Left leaning States don’t want this type of Voting.
What about the other points that BM 2 address? According to the advertisements this BM is about dark money. But wait it’s also about ranked choice voting and open primaries. Even though our Ballot Measures are required by law to have one subject we have this multi subject measure that the backers of only talk about one aspect of…that’s weird. Dark money paid for a three subject ballot measure to fight dark money and to sneak in open primary and ranked choice voting. What could go wrong? Like most BM’s I will be voting no.
Ironic that the ads now running in support of BM2 rail against dark money, when the entire bloody thing is being funded and backed by dark money from outside AK. Cheers –
The open primaries aspect of this ballot measure is obviously open to abuse by either party picking the weaker candidate for the opposite party….
Maybe this is the wrong approach, but I think the primaries should be closed. That is, if you are not registered as a Republican or Democrat, you do not get to vote for their candidates. Only Republicans should vote for their candidate in the general, and only registered Dems should be allowed to chose their candidates.
If you want to be undeclared, you get the ballot with independent candidates, and ballot measures only. Either own up to which political party you support, or suck it up in silence.
You could run them with private money instead of state money too. That sounds great for a private/closed process. Oh, unless you’d like to keep arguing to spend state money on your party gate keeping? Socialists.
This is strongly backed by retired elected and appointed officials in Juneau – from all 3 branches of state and municipal government. It is aimed at Republicans who want the people they elect to do what they said during the campaign. For that reason alone we need to make sure this goes down in defeat! But of course there are other reasons to vote NO.
Al Gross, Alyse Galvin, and this ranked voting crap are all being supported by outside money determined into making Alaska into a park. Anyone that votes for this crap is in the wrong state. Anchorage is already in the throes of being locked up by these parasitic socialists, it would be prudent to vote against the whole state dealing with this idiocy.
In the primaries, if I’m undeclared, I lose my vote, as I can not vote for a Republican if I want to…but I can vote for a Democrat or Independent. I’ve been following this for while, and I would like to see a deeper discussion on how open primaries are a bad thing? I went undeclared for a couple of years, but changed back to Republican in order to vote for a Candidate I truly believed in. I would like the primary open so I can vote my conscience, not my party line.
Please, no snarky remarks, as I am seeking a real answer. Thanks
The Problem with this Ballot Measure is it could potentially produced a winner that does not represent the will of the people. It would also disillusion voters who only want to vote for one Candidate not have to rank vote all the names on the ballot. If you don’t rank vote all the candidates and only vote for one Candidate if that candidate does not move on in this scheme then you lose your vote. How is that fair? If you have a candidate that wants to run as an Independent why don’t they run on that instead of a Democratic ticket. The problem is every Independent winner of an Election Caucuses with Democrats so how are they really Intendent if they only go one way?
Very well stated!
Clearly he can’t read Naomi. I went to division of elections and read the whole thing. This is just false. Just like the promise of a $3,000 PFD. We need elected leaders that will actually keep their promises. Vote them all out. Ranked or not, it’s time to go.
I will be voting yes on #2 because:
1. I believe in freedom of choice.
2. I do not believe in voter suppression, unlike establishment Rs and Ds, who want to silence opposition and maintain power.
3. 58% of Alaskans are registered undeclared/nonpartisan, they aren’t even aligned as Rs and Ds. Our voting system should reflect that.
4. All Alaskan voters should be able to opportunity to choose who they believe are the best candidates on the ballot, whether that’s Independent, Libertarian, Republican, Democrat, or a mixture of the parties.
These are our Alaskan representives we’re choosing, not clubs, where you can only vote if you’re a “member.” Everyone should have a voice and shouldn’t be forced to tow party lines. That’s the opposite of freedom.
Nothing is stopping someone from running as a Libertarian, or Independent in the State. The Rank Choice Voting will do more to suppress votes than it will do to allow choice. It suppresses my vote if I only want to vote for one candidate and said candidate does not make the first cut in this bizarre system. So then my choice is negated and guess what? My vote has now been suppressed. There is a reason this type of system has been looked down on both sides of the aisle: It will encourage more Dark Money to envelope the system.
Again, nice response, and accurate.
Libertarians and Independents hardly never win in Alaska, even though most people align not as Dem or Repub. RCV would make it so Independents actually would have a shot. Both parties have gotten too extreme, and we need candidates who actually represent 50%+ of the voters wishes, not 37% after a split vote.
The problem AFREE is that this is being sponsored by Liberal Globalists/Democrats and they have lots of hidden wording and agendas included. Its a way to manipulate our voting system to place in power those who have sold their souls to them. This reminds me a lot of “Save the Salmon.” Nothing to do with saving salmon, just a way for more control over the population by greedy leftists.
Democrats don’t like this ballot measure either (ask Mark Begich). Neither party likes it because it gives Dems and Repubs less control.
Only ignorant morons could have come up with ranked-choice voting. I’ve no doubt it is funded by Soros, since he has his filthy fingers in everything.
Begich and Parnell are both against it? That’s a good enough reason to vote Yes! I’m tired of choosing between two awful parties…I’m voting Yes.
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