By NIKI AND KELLY TSHIBAKA
Thomas Jefferson observed that ours is not a “government by the majority,” but rather a government by the “majority who participate.” The outcomes of our elections, and our nation’s future, are determined as much by those who do not vote as they are by those who do.
Our vote is our voice, a regular reminder to elected officials that they temporarily steward – they do not permanently own – the powers they wield. Their authority to govern us is conditional and based solely on our consent, as expressed through our vote.
Perhaps that is why the late Supreme Court Justice, Louis Brandeis, believed the most important political office any of us will ever hold is that of private citizen.
He further warned that under our republican form of government, the duties of that office, such as our right (and corresponding duty) to vote, could not be neglected without causing “serious injury to the public.”
Similarly, Plato warned, rather indelicately, that among the injuries private citizens suffer when they do not fulfill the duties of their office is that they will “end up being governed by [their] inferiors.”
The late drama critic and co-founder of The American Spectator, George Jean Nathan, made a similar observation, noting that “[b]ad officials are the ones elected by good citizens who do not vote.”
It therefore was particularly alarming that the November 2022 election resulted in the lowest recorded voter turnout rate in our state’s history, while the country experienced the second-highest midterm voter turnout rate the Census Bureau has recorded in four decades. As the voices of our sister states’ citizens thundered at the polls, the voices of Alaska’s citizenry were barely a whisper.
Recognizing that democracies decline and tyrannies transcend when the public does not vote, Preserve Democracy explored why our state experienced such a precipitous drop in voting last year. Was it because we no longer trusted our politicians, did we forget to vote en masse, or was it something else?
In an effort to unearth what happened, Preserve Democracy conducted a statewide poll through Cygnal, which the New York Times, among others, has recognized for the accuracy of its polling. The results of the poll were informative.
The following were the most common voluntary and involuntary reasons Alaskans gave for not voting in 2022.
Most common involuntary reasons for not voting were:
- Out of town: 26.5%
- Sick or disabled: 12.8%
Most common voluntary reasons for not voting:
- Lack of trust in the integrity of elections: 13.0%
- Concern about the new ranked-choice voting (RCV) system: 6.3%.
An approximately equal percentage of Republicans (15%) and Democrats (16%) said they did not vote because of concern regarding the new RCV system, as well as 3% of Independent/Unaffiliated voters. Women voters, older voters, and voters who are people of color said they were less likely to vote because of RCV.
In addition, a majority of the respondents (51%) had a negative view of RCV, while 29% had a positive view of it. When asked how they would vote today regarding 2020’s Ballot Measure 2, which instituted RCV, a majority of the respondents said they would vote to keep traditional voting in place (older voters and Alaska-Native voters were more likely to vote to reject RCV).
Finally, 4 in 10 voters believed RCV gives an unfair advantage to one party over another, including 75% of Republicans, 15% of Democrats, and 36% of Independent/Unaffiliated respondents.
Readers will reach different conclusions regarding the results of the poll, but our main takeaway is that the poll’s data indicates there is great reason for hope with respect to future elections in Alaska.
Consider that almost 40% of the individuals who did not vote indicated they were either out of town, sick, or disabled, which is a challenge that can be addressed going forward by ensuring voters are better informed on how to request absentee ballots, and by improving our outreach efforts to remind them to return their absentee ballots before the established deadlines.
Such a coordinated effort could substantially increase future voter turnout rates; preserve the vigor and vitality of our republic; raise Alaskans’ voices from a whisper to a roar; and safeguard the office of private citizen, Alaska’ highest and most powerful political office.
We encourage our fellow Alaskans to stand together by working to increase voter turnout. In the words attributed to Benjamin Franklin, we still have a “Republic, if you can keep it.”
Niki Tshibaka is a former federal civil rights attorney and government executive. Kelly Tshibaka is the founder of Preserve Democracy and former U.S. Senate candidate for the State of Alaska. They have five amazing children, one of whom voted for the first time in November 2022.
We live in a Constitutional Republic, not a democracy.
Amen, Brother! I would be more supportive if they hadn’t used the word Democracy in the name of their movement. I sure wish some seriously influential people could make some progress on educating the American people on this subject. This is a pet peeve of mine.
Kelly and Niki:
Met you both on your campaign trail and supported you through the process. There is only one reason you lost ……Ranked Choice Voting. The entire purpose of RCV was to shut out the possibility of a Republican Primary, in which you would have certainly defeated Lisa Murkowski. Lisa and the Democrats knew this from the Joe Miller experience 12 years earlier.
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The majority of Republicans cannot stand Lisa Murkowski and would reject her in any race, including dog catcher.
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Kelly, please consider running against Mary Peltola in 2024, and then Lisa again in 2028. We will be there to support you.
Your recitation is spot on. I. too, will be encouraging Kelly to run against Peltola and as you’ve stated, then run against Murkowski in 28.
But the democrats and non partisans strongly dislike Tsibaka and republicans dislike Trump, they’ll vote for peltola all over again.
Yes they will. And together will provide Peltola the win, as the two groups WAY outnumber so called conservative republicans in this state.
Jen,
Sorry, but you are WRONG. People are fed up with the left-wing crap. Tshibaka would kick Peltola’s *ss. Peltola is a rank idiot Democrat with zero ideas of her own. She’s a Democrat lemming. Kelly and Niki are both Harvard Law School graduates. You just don’t like Kelly because she happens to be a moral person with well-thought-out values for families and children.
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As for Trump, he’s coming back. Get used to it!
Kelly would perhaps do better than Palin, but would it be enough? Last time, in all the polling matchups, only one of the two ever beat Peltola- that was Nick Begich. If Nick, and only Nick had run from the right, he would have won. That’s worth considering.
Lawrence:
I agree. But first you have to get rid of RCV. This is engineered by unions and Democrats to have lasting effect. Nick Begich knows it,vas does Kelly Tshibaka. Sign the petition!
Re: “Lisa and the Democrats knew this from the Joe Miller experience 12 years earlier.”
If Lisa were to lose to Kelly in a Republican primary, why should she not be allowed to run in the general as an independent with her name on the ballot rather than as a write-in or perhaps not run at all?
All candidates should have the same path to the ballot for the same race regardless of party affiliation. There’s no requirement to use RCV for this equity rule or principle to be followed. A top-two system could be used, or perhaps approval voting, range voting, STAR voting, or perhaps some other ranking method that is less cumbersome than RCV (one that is precinct summable).
@Brian Shank.
Then tell Lisa Murkowski to switch parties NOW. The Republican Party of Alaska has clearly demonstrated that they don’t want Lisa in their party. Lisa can join the Independent Party or Democrat Party NOW.
There where she gets her votes. ….. and her money.
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Lisa Murkowski is 100% FRAUD.
I think this top-four system with no party primaries gives Republicans the opportunity to do just that! But for some reason, they won’t do it. They need to pass a law that empowers them to decide which candidate can use the party name and which cannot. In fact, all parties in all states need to do this, but particularly in states that are using these two-round systems.
All above comments are now irrelevant. Nick Begich just announced. Tshibaka will be back on another day
Re: “All above comments are now irrelevant.”
Not sure of your meaning or point. Complete party control over the party name is crucial regardless of who is running or or what race is considered. Please consider your somewhat rhetorical comment “Then tell Lisa Murkowski to switch parties…” The Alaska Republican party needs to do more than just “tell her.” They need to claim the power to take the name “Republican” away from her when she files and runs. They need to exercise that power even for members of their party. If Sarah runs along side Nick again, the party will have to decide which of the two is allowed to have the name Republican on the ballot. They will NOT have the power to tell either one of them that they cannot run.
Society has gotten so lazy!!! If you work, you get paid!!! If you vote HOPEFULLY, you get results!!! If you choose not to vote, don’t complain?
The big news Friday was a pet bill for veterinarians. So even when you get a Republican they are completely worthless. We need a secession bill. The candidates y’all put up are pathetic college boys and women that are in a corner peeing on themselves. Rednecks could fix this in 5 minutes
Looking forward to your candidacy, Dalton.
I shouldn’t even have to run. I was on the radio for two and a half years explaining without fear, everything that was getting ready to happen. Not one person in the media got it right but I got blocked. They should just insert me into the position!!!
She still would have lost the senate race.
The issue with pull surveys is the lack of two way communication. Answers were canned and failed to account for off script concerns.
One dude reached out, “it was a political fishing trip, I just gave them the answers they wanted. Just skew their data. Can’t wait to vote that prop down. Gonna be like HRC in 2016.”
I encourage folks to take the time to participate in these surveys. Sure the data is manipulated. Yes the choices are canned. However, the die hards take these programmed outcomes seriously and the results are used to influence change.
Dominion Voting machine software is susceptible to hacking! Many software engineers have proven this & have raised the alarm but it has fallen on deaf ears. In fact, Georgia election officials have acknowledged the problem but will continue using Dominion Voting machines until AFTER the 2024 elections when a anti hacking software patch will be installed. We have a corrupt election system in the USA. It is a disgrace! Why are we still using Dominion Voting machines in Alaska?
And people wonder why confidence in voting is at an all time low.
They should change the stickers from “I Voted” to “I think I voted!”
“I placed my fractional reserve vote.”
Because voters don’t have a choice in the matter.
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Voters aren’t given a choice because Dominion vote tabulation gear may arguably be the Establishment’s last line of defense against free, fair, and transparent elections.
Dominion sure got a lot of money from FOX News, FOX of course wrongly ran with this lie and folks as yourself believed it.
Maureen – all we know about the Dominion defamation lawsuit is that it was settled out of court. Dominion was afraid to present its case before a jury & FOX , for some reason, decided to pay Dominion hundreds of millions of dollars to make their case go away. FOX never apologized. Did the Deep State guarantee that money to FOX to make sure Dominion stayed in the election marketplace? If so, it could have been a very good investment, indeed!
More like FOX really didn’t want the text by on air personalities fighting their own business as they all knew they were purposely reporting lies.
Dominion did not ask for any apology. The next case does.
Fox is Garbage some of the on-air personalities no longer there were the only ones reporting the facts. Get your facts straight not talking points.
Has anyone here NOT signed the petition to put RCV on the ballot in 2024 and vote it out?
I haven’t and won’t.
Kelly and Nicki-go back to your church in DC and do your religion there. Where it belongs. Not representing Alaska.
Maureen
Don’t worry I will cancel your vote every time.
I’M canceling YOUR vote Mark
And, I will double cancel it.
Hi Maureen. Do you actually support RCV or do you just see it as a weapon against republicans?
I see it as a weapon against Extremist Republicans, and it’s working like a cluster bomb on Russians, very well.
What, in your personal opinion, makes someone an extremist Republican?
What line has to be crossed in order for you to classify them that way. What is that line? Or lines?
Thanks Paul-there are many reasons I support it. Efficiency of time for one. This then cuts need to pay election debts (cheifly excessive payrolls for those working elections.
I also witnessed years of Alaska Baptist Temple ‘s reign of leadership in Republican politics in this state. Here I understand it worked for years to keep Republicans in office in Alaska and as representative of Alaska in Congress. I can understand here why the folks who were invested in this process are bothered as it was so effective for so many years in their favor. Change is hard. Absolutely.
I do not support the state paying for party primaries. Any party needs to pay for their own primary.
As an aside-I also believe we as Americans need to ensure enough options for voting not lessening them.
“I do not support the state paying for party primaries. Any party needs to pay for their own primary.”
Governments force parties to hold the much more expensive nomination process (primary), so the government must pay. Remove the funding, and parties go back to conventions and caucuses. This change is better as long as ballot access is permitted to be the same for all candidates in each race regardless of party affiliation. Sore loser laws and prohibitive ballot access hurdles for third party and independent candidates must not be perpetuated once party primaries are no longer used.
Also, use of RCV and use of a system without party primaries are not tightly linked. RCV was the stepping stone to get to the abolishment of party primaries, but approval voting, range voting or some other ranking method besides RCV could have been used.
Re: “Efficiency of time for one.”
Could you please explain that? Counting the votes is much more cumbersome, so it takes more time. This is especially true if two rounds are used as is done under the new system.
Brian-efficiency of time as it appears to be less likelihood of run offs, etc that lengthen the election process with RCV.
RCV is a confusing and opaque process that is prone to errors.
Using RCV to eliminate runoffs does not guarantee faster election results because the multiple rounds of vote tabulation can substantially delay the determination of a winner.
RCV effectively disenfranchises voters in multiple rounds of vote counting and allows marginal candidates not the first choice of a majority of voters to win.
Eliminating run-off elections deprives voters of the opportunity to reeducate themselves about the top candidates and cast an informed, knowledgeable vote.
RCV is garbage and ultimately will be repealed.
Gee Maureen.
Would you be singing the same tune if the top four candidates in the jungle primary were all Republicans?
I’m not a Republican, why would I vote that primary?
But if there were 4 republicans chosen by Republicans in a primary they paid for that showed up on the actual election ballot. If they convinced me that they would be a good whatever they are running for, then sure I would vote for them.
Demonstrating ability to do the job is what I vote for. Party doesn’t mean anything to me.
There are no longer party primaries. It is all one. And, you know it.
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Demonstrating ability to do the job is important to you? Well, as long as the person running is not religious, because apparently that disqualifies them. Oh, and I remember asking you once when the last time you voted for a Republican was. Some RINO running for governor of Mass ages ago was your answer. So, apparently, another factor that outweighs ability is party membership.
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Thanks for playing though. Your deliberately obtuse non-answer speaks volumes.
CBMTTek-get your party to have it’s own primary.
“CBMTTek-get your party to have it’s own primary.”
OK, I would love to, under the condition you must be a registered member to vote in the primary.
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And, the rest of my points are….
Ignored because you obviously have no response. Thanks for confirming everything I thought about you and the standards you live by.
Nothing like a little anti-Christian bigotry to end the weekend with. Thanks for playing. Thanks for demonstrating everything we thought about you was accurate. Cheers –
Religionist have no place in government-cheers.
Kelly and Nikki are trained pastors. They need to be serving in their church. It’s in DC. No bigotry here. Reality though.
Anti-Christian Bigotry, Maureen. And you doubled down. Game. Set. Match.
In your world, Christians (who you refer to as Religionists) have no place in government. Let’s take a short look as everyone here in the US you would blithely invite out of the political world, Based on a total population of 330 million (2022):
– 233 million Christians, 71%
– 19 million non-Christian religions, 5.9%
This leaves you 75 million unaffiliated religionists (23%) to govern the rest of us. This includes atheists, agnostics, greens, socialists, communists, assorted lefties, etc. Sorry, Madam, I’m not playing. Kind of don’t think my neighbors will either.
One of the things that humans have is a religious side. Christians refer to the Holy Trinity. Others refer to it as body, mind, spirit. We spend a lot of time taking care of the body and the mind while ignoring the spiritual side, which is where religion comes in, an attempt to fill that side with something positive. Each religion (even the greens) teach that what they do is that positive fill. Problem is that nature abhors a vacuum, and if you don’t fill the spiritual side with something positive, it will get filled with anything else, usually something awful.
But thanks for demonstrating quite nicely the totalitarian impulse running rampant in you leftists. It is Good to be King, especially as you anoint yourself as King and the rest of us unworthy. But be careful traveling this path, as you really aren’t going to enjoy the rest of us playing by your new rules, especially if you are at a 4:1 numerical disadvantage. Cheers –
Gee… that’s funny. You said you vote qualifications and abilities, not religion. So… what is it? There is nothing stopping a person of God from being a fully capable statesman. Well, in everyone’s mind except yours.
Kelly wants to put her religious views into laws. This while the first amendment says that no law will be made that way.
Marc-it’s just a conversation.
Religionists are anyone who want to live by their religion. Not limited to so called Christians
If the current voter rolls are correct and people do not vote because of the Rank Choice Voting then over 21,000 Republicans and just under 12,000 Democrats won’t vote and have been disenfranchised because of this flawed system. Looking at the 9,000 voter difference between disenfranchised Republicans vs disenfranchised Democrats, think about how the results of the latest Statewide and local races could have been.
Some of us republicans may not have understood RCV, I did, you don’t have to rank, just vote for one. You don’t understand RCV because the system wasn’t flawed, the voters were, just like you didn’t understand defunct pebble.
The snark is strong in you today.
How can you tell?
Can you please try again using the English.
Pebble’s not defunct. It’s on hold, ready to be dusted off to fulfill the promise of the Green Nude Eel. Gonna need lots of rare earths to build all those renewables. Cheers –
I worked at the polls during the last two statewide elections. During the last one with Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) there were many, many more “spoiled” ballots than ever before. A very large number of registered voters could not figure out how to vote under the RCV system. Some voters re-voted at the precinct more than one time and others just walked out totally disgusted with this process.
The recent election results are highly suspect as we all know. RCV is overly confusing to voters and succeeded in disenfranchising those who wanted to participate in the process and expected to be able to do so, but could not.
Some of that belongs at the feet of the useless AK GOP.
Instead of whining about it, they should have been leading the charge to teach how to use it.
The chose the political equivalent of holding their breath and stomping their feet.
Choosing not to vote is not the same as disenfranchisement. Instead of spending 2 years complaining about ranked-choice voting, conservatives should have spent that time teaching their voters how to use it.
Sadly this isn’t news. It’s common knowledge. RVC is unpopular amongst us common folk.
We see it for what it is: incumbent protection. Specifically Murkowski protection. And most of us, voting or not, want no part of it.
More and more faith in our electoral process is fraying. Our system only works if we believe in it. We didn’t believe in RVC.
While the history and civics lessons are helpful, perhaps this instead. What is Camp Kelly gonna try to do about it?
Get a job before running for office, move to Alaska permanently, hope Lisa does not run, buy a fishing license before fishing, change a flat tire at 20 below barehanded etc. etc.
Somehow I don’t think you represent anyone in Kelly’s circle.
Re: “We see it for what it is: incumbent protection. Specifically Murkowski protection.”
It’s not really RCV that protected Murkowski, but the lack of a party primary. It protected or attempted to protect Murkowski from a flawed primary/general system, and in essence protected Alaskans from al election failure. Get rid of RCV, but keep the two-round system with no party primaries.
I concur with that assessment. If we had a choice, get rid of the open primary, or get rid of RCV, I would choose RCV over the open primary.
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I much prefer closed primaries. If you are not a registered member of the party, you should get no say in who the party selects to represent them. Sorry, but if you want to be undeclared, you get a “ballot measure only” primary ballot. If you are a registered Republican, you do not get a say in who the Democrats put in the general election.
Basically, I am advocating that sore loser laws be abolished and that all candidates get to the general electionby the same path regardless of party affiliation. Under that system, parties control who uses the party name when they run and file, but they can’t prevent nomination losers from entering the general election as independents or third party candidates. They can kick that candidate out of the party for a number of years or more, though. If the top-four system is not overturned, the parties need to take that control over the party name.
Ultra low confidence in a system ripe for corruption? Maybe?
How many individuals have their hands on your “secure” ballot even before the envelope is opened.
Then counted ( or not) in the wee hours
M.D., an autopsy would show that the main cause for the lack of voter turnout was primarily due to sloth! Can you imagine the Chinese using our model to “govern” themselves? As my father often said, man is born to die, and, in the vast scheme of things, what he does with his life is of little or no consequence!
Let’s pray that fewer dolts turn out to vote during the next election: we may get better results!
Recommend becoming a ballot observer.
I cried about the “ system “ for years.
Finally I said self get involved. It was a very rewarding experience. Major eye opener on the preconceptions I had about the voting process.
Many myths were busted. With many realities being affirmed.
What did I learn, Democrats are very organized and deliberate.
Republicans should learn from the Democrats, otherwise you better get used to the color blue.
Did you get to observe a chain of custody from the ballot box to the counting station? I have my suspicions. Or from the post office to the counting station. It seems so easy to loose a number of ballots from certain predictable districts. Which would explain the lower turnout numbers.
You must be using some “floating” criteria Joe: either that or your pills have a whacky kick to them! The Democrats have been so organized that they continually lost to Don Young. And they won only one of the more recent Alaska U.S. Senate races with Begich, who the Alaskans subsequently dumped for Sullivan. The Republicans haven’t done too badly for the want of being as organized as the Democrats! However, regarding the Trump “breed,” they’re screwier than Trump is himself. But, who knows where the GOP is heading–it may be getting LGBTQish like squirrelly Trump had gotten himself.
Republicans outnumber Democrats damned near 2 to 1 in Alaska. Undeclared outnumber Republicans by damned near 2 to 1, but undeclared lean to the right, nonpartisan have about 10,000 more registered voters than Democrats but they also lean left. By and large Republicans and the Undeclared vote alike while Democrats and nonpartisan vote alike. There are more than 400,000 Republican and undeclared registered voters and less than 160,000 Democrat and nonpartisan registered voters.
Based on those numbers there should be very few state representatives that align with Democrats and nonpartisans, there should be no Federal representatives that align with Democrats and nonpartisan. However that’s not the case.
I think your numbers are accurate Steve-O, but RCV showed that moderate undeclared voters may lean Republican, they don’t skew all the way to the fringe right that is Kelly Tshibaka or her ilk. That is evidenced by Lisa’s win as well as Dunleavy’s
Undeclared voters are exactly that, undeclared. They have no party affiliation and vote for who they see as the better candidate. They are not members of any political party so they have no allegiance to who a party picks as their candidate.
That is why I foresee this ballot measure failing if/when it gets on a ballot for us to vote on. Most non-partisan and undeclared voters were happy with RCV because it gave more options than those forced upon us by the two political parties
Republicans won almost all the elections. The legislature is majority Republican. A Republican won the Senate race and Dunleavy was re-elected. WTH are you complaining about?
Tshibaka, Palin, and Begich only courted the ultra conservative voters.
Maybe run better candidates that appeal to all Republicans and not just the ultra conservative MAGA or die side?
Didn’t seem to me that Begich courted only ultra-conservatives. He lost due to a spoiler scenario caused by flawed nature of RCV. On the other hand, spoilers are even more common under the plurality system.
If the AK GOP had educated it’s members, Mary Peltola would not have won. The AK GOP let Sarah Palin and Nick Begich fight eachother when they could have told their members from the start that Sarah and Nick were from the same team and all you had to do was rank either one of them 1 and the other 2.
Can’t be a spoiler when RCV allows you to rank your choices
Re: “Can’t be a spoiler when RCV allows you to rank your choices”
RCV still has vote-splitting and can occasionally or rarely suffer a spoiler problem. Palin was the spoiler in that special election.
‘https://electionscience.org/commentary-analysis/rcv-fools-palin-voters-into-electing-a-progressive-democrat/
In a three horse race with two republican candidates in RCV, it is not possible to “vote split” and cause both to fall behind the third option unless that third option has more votes period.
If all the people who ranked Nick Begich III first and Sarah Palin second, Mary Peltola would not have won. Sarah Palin got 67866, Nick Begich III got 61513 and Mary Peltola got 128553 in the initial count. 67866 + 61513 = 129379.
Their combined total was more than Mary so there is no spoiler. If there were 4 candidates, then there very well could be a spoiler.
The issue was the AK GOP spent their time fighting RCV instead of saying “we need a republican so rank Sarah and Nick either 1 or 2 and don’t vote for Mary then their combined total would elect one of them. In this case, it would have been Sarah.
How so Brian?
With those first round results, we see that republican candidates (Sarah and Nick) received more total vote in the first round than Mary did.
We can clearly see where the votes went in the second round. That shows us who ranked Sarah or Mary second or didn’t list a second choice.
Takes a couple minutes of simple math, but I can do that for you.
Mary got 128553 total votes in round 1. Sarah got 67866 and Nick got 61513.
In round two, after Nick was eliminated, Mary got 137263 total and Sarah got 112471.
Now comes the math part.
Nick’s 61513 split like this: 8710 ranked Mary second. (137263 – 128553 = 8710)
44605 ranked Sarah second. (112471 – 67866 = 44605)
and 8198 didn’t rank anyone second. (61513 -8710 – 44605 = 8198)
Clearly, Mary was the preferred candidate by the people in this state, for better or for worse.
Those summaries of vote totals for first place votes are misleading because vote-splitting obscures our ability to determine who the most preferred candidate is. We need to look at original ballots to find out which voters ranked Peltola higher than Begich or Begich higher than Peltola. Then look at ballots to do the other two pairwise comparisons. They preferred Begich over Peltola, and Begich over Palin. Even after all of the mudslinging between Begich and Palin, Begich still managed to survive it to be the most preferred candidate of the three of them, although perhaps he didn’t deserve to (was the spoiler scenario a form of Karma?). Note that a pairwise comparison between Peltola and Palin was done as the last round, so that one was actually done by the runoff format of RCV.
If you doubt the validity of such pairwise comparisons, I would challenge you to consider why a peculiar runoff system is any more valid. Please consider the purpose of an election, or one possible purpose, which is to determine who the most preferred candidate is. As I pointed out above, vote-splitting obscures our ability to determine overall voter preference, particularly if we are looking only at first place vote totals in any round.
Re: “…need a republican so rank Sarah and Nick either 1 or 2 and don’t vote for Mary then their combined total would elect one of them.”
Looks as though too many voters who ranked Begich first actually ranked Peltola as their second choice. Had all of the Begich bullet-voters who really did like Palin more than Peltola actually ranked Palin, seems very likely that Palin still loses because there aren’t enough of such voters.
Please reread my comment that explains why pairwise comparisons are meaningful and your analysis of first place votes are meaningless. Also, please read this article: ‘https://electionscience.org/commentary-analysis/rcv-fools-palin-voters-into-electing-a-progressive-democrat/
I don’t want my ideological opponents to vote, but I want my ideological allies to vote. The problem is that it is becoming clear that I have few (if any) ideological allies.
Here is another can of worms for you to open if you wish: ACI Payments, Inc. received a gigantic fine of millions of dollars for bad methods and business practices on June 27, 2023. Guess what entity the hateful Anch. Assembly selected for you to “pay” your municipality property taxes due June 30, 2023. None other than the same. I’m believing the the assembly members are generally staying true to their hostile feelings toward Anchorage-ites. The bad business practices of thos payment company third party will likely generate a very large hateful problem of tardy property tax payments receipts while also purposefully giving a false impression of businesslike faux business practices post the calamitous covid era while Anchorage-ites anxiously await along with the State of AK the resurrection of WHO’s overtake of the world by the academic Adminstrator of the WHO, not a “medical” doctor but Dr. Ted? something-or-other, from Africa, who also remains displeased by some liberty sass, as are the stipend-receiving, Anchorage Assembly members regarding the sass they got vis-a-vis “covid” health freaking mandates. The time to speak loudly against them is now. Can you get an edict?
Voting for Republicans who magically turn into Democrats after being sworn in doesn’t help voter enthusiasm. Election after election there’s always a new crop. Some even get re-elected by the constituents they betrayed, which is baffling to me.
Why don’t the percentages add up to 100%? The voluntary reasons shown for not voting total 19.3%. What about the other 80.7%? Why didn’t those people vote? That’s a huge chunk of people not accounted for.
The solution is simple. Mail everyone a ballot. Maine which has RCV had the second highest voter turnout. Doesn’t appear RCV is keeping people away there.
A more simplistic solution is available, leo.
Only mail ballots to those that request it, within a verifiable and honest reason, and allow all others to vote in person, with verifiable identification.
You know, like it was done within the past?
That whole one person, one vote kind of thing?
If you really want voter turnout mailing everyone a ballot is the easiest way. Look at the voting policies in the states with the highest turnout. people only want people that vote like them to vote. Sadly it doesn’t work like that. Elections always had winners and losers. Now we have winners and whiners, and deniers.
What I want, leo, is for individuals of whatever stripe or ideology to go through whatever steps necessary because they CHOOSE to vote, within whatever manner they so deem appropriate.
That is, said individual SEEKS the method so that they can vote as an individual, whether that method is by mail or within person, identifying themselves as the legally identified individual that casts said ballot.
Sloth is NOT a method of voting, leo, and never has been.
Voting is an actionable affirmation of choice unto, and by the individual, leo, not a numbers game, and never shall be.
One CHOOSES to vote, leo, based upon their principal philosophy and ideology, and shall therefore determine their vote based upon such, and shall seek out the methodology to do so, rather than have said methodology given unto them.
Therein lies individual choice of their vote, as sought out individually, rather than given unto them without their direct involvement.
that was deep Randy. I was simply responding to an opinion piece that was all numbers. The numbers support mail in voting. Take a look at Utah. Personally I have no problem with the system Alaska has in place, and no excuse absentee voting.
No.
Not only no, but HELL NO!
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Sorry, Leo, but I do not want more people voting. I want more informed people voting. Sending everyone a ballot, whether they request one or not gets bad votes, and worse government. How many people are just plain not informed about politics and government? (HINT: Most people) They are too busy talking about their favorite sportsball team, or the latest Netflix show.
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When you mail ballots out to the people who just do not care about politics, they end up voting for the candidate with the most yard signs, or the best ads. Not the one that best supports their important issues.
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Absolute WORST idea ever is 100% mail in voting. WORST EVER!
Exactly! To vote, show up in person: self-governance is not a function of simple convenience.
I’m a super voter LRH-I’m in the hospital right now and would not ne able to show up to vote as you instruct if and election was today. Even if the hospital had polls, Prov is not in my precinct, so that too would disenfranchise my vote.
Tough cookies for me, right?
Tough cookies, indeed, sweetheart; just choke them down. As a “super voter” you’ve no doubt chalked up a lot of time, so know that we at Lucifer’s thank you for your service, and Psalms 23 to you if you think that you might need it!
Never heard of an absentee ballot?
You know, where you request one be sent, and when received you vote and send it back? It works just fine in hospitals.
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No tough cookies, do what it takes, and stop whining.
maybe you should read this opinion piece again.
“Consider that almost 40% of the individuals who did not vote indicated they were either out of town, sick, or disabled, which is a challenge that can be addressed going forward by ensuring voters are better informed on how to request absentee ballots, and by improving our outreach efforts to remind them to return their absentee ballots before the established deadlines”
So these people according to you do not deserve to vote as they can not figure out how to get an absentee ballot. According to LRH the sick and disabled should not even vote, as they can not show up in person. These people have more a likelihood of voting if they are mailed a ballot. Maybe they need to be informed on who to vote for. Clearly having informed voters did not work so well last election for Kelly
No doubt, Americus, the veracity of the poll, like all political polls, is beyond question. “Poll hopping,” what a way to instill confidence into the system: government of the people, by the people, and for the people, will be neither perfect nor efficient!
To add to the debate, I’m sure you’d be willing to assert that only the well informed and thoughtful have ever voted! Sure the ailing and the dying have a right to be heard. (Let me help you fill that ballot out!)
A reality check is RVC is here and we are stuck with it for the foreseeable future.
We gotta learn to use it better and more efficiently than the left. The GOP and conservatives in general have to stop complaining about it and use it against them.
It’s the tool we have until we can get rid of it.
There were two major political malpractices by the right in the last election.
1-Queen Sarah’s ego trip
2-The abject failure of the GOP to get the word out regarding RVC. How to use it, how to understand it. We got a first hand lesson in what happens when we don’t take it seriously.
Yep.
The left will accept a 16% voter disenfranchisement from their crowd as long as there is a 15% voter disenfranchisement from the right, numbers matter and Statewide that accounts for more than 9,000 votes. 9,000 votes changes elections across the state, locally and Federally. The left knows this, the right continues to disenfranchise their own voters.
I don’t like RVC, mail in voting, early voting, drop boxes, any of it.
But it IS the current system we have. The choice is beat them at their own game, or get beaten.
How erstwhile! For instance, you might ask: “What evidence of erstwhile, hostile, payment problems might well-meaning property taxpayers meet with?” That would be a reasonable, incurious question one might disinterestedly on June 30, 2023 while attempting in excellent faith to promptly pay the first payment telephonically as is an option. You would receive the ? message that the first installment was due June 15, 2023 not June 30th the printed date on the invoice and that you should contact the Anchorage Tax Department to find out what amount of late fees and penalties are now attached. This might get your feeble attention. You would not be told that late fees and penalty boxes are now turned on (forever?) Incorrectly and maliciously. So then another problem is that the tax office WILL NOT process telephonic payments at all. You will be told to “come down” and come in to pay in person. So you do. The in person payment is remotely processed in ACI Payments, Inc. anyway. The invoice stub is taken from you. On it is the eleven digit parcel number ostensibly you need to pay and be timely processed with your payment on June 30, 2023 on the first installment deadline. In order for the payment to process you need a 13 digit number not an 11 digit number. No payment will process with only an 11 digit number. The municipality of Anchorage did not print or issue a 13 digit number for at least some targeted property numbers. Who handles this? The in person payments were somehow, mysteriously processed in the City Clerks office. HOW did yhe clerk employee receive a 13 digit mystery number – out of thin air one wonders. Why not the tax office? Those aren’t the only irregularities. I believe a car of a disabled person overstaying his/her welcome was ? in the gentle, hostile, anti-sceptic, anti-taxpayer business process. More rocks and hard places. If you think your stipend receivers give one whit about the publics you would be gravely disappointed I believe.
We need more awareness as people are just tuned out. Perhaps many are just plain sick of our vicious politics and fake news media. Apathy is rampant as many feel their vote won’t count and there is widespread corruption (ie: Juneau’s tabulation building on the outskirts of town). I was hoping with rampant inflation and our latest real estate tax evaluations some would wake up, we’ll see.
Who in hades is ACI Payments, Inc and why am I being bludgeoned into establishing a financial relationship with this ideologically woke, blundering complete stranger? And, I am claiming my inheritance as a GGGGG Granddaughter of James Madison to have total and complete right of freedom of economic association which right has been taken secretively by the corporation Municipality of Anchorage. Anything in conflict with the US Constitution is null from inception.
I think a lot of people didn’t understand ranked choice voting, so instead of learning how it worked (which was difficult), they just chose not to vote. And many weren’t likely to admit that in a poll, if the poll even asked that specifically.
Or just maybe, they did vote and it was never counted. Lots of loose ends here. Just as I am so sure that everyone continues to pass bond issues because they love to have their taxes raised.
Maybe they did vote and was counted and Kelly was just not popular enough to win the seat.
Maybe conservative just aren’t as popular as believed by other Alaskan conservatives and just don’t have enough votes to win seats.
Rank Voting isn’t that hard, it’s stupid and goes against voting laws, but it’s not that hard.
It is also the wave of the future unless conservatives get off their backsides and fight to stop it.
There is a better chance increasing church attendance in Alaska than increasing voter turn out here. Those who still eligible choose to believe what does my vote matter and everyone running is one of the same. That’s what the regular folks tell me. When I tell them what’s happening they respond with well they’ll have to move, which I respond how many times will you move before you vote? They like hearing me rattle of scripture verses, that’s why I see you increasing church attendance would be easier than getting those eligible to vote or at least volunteer if they can’t vote.
Maybe if you weren’t a far-right MAGA loon you would have received more votes. Time to look in the mirror.
Define “far-right” and “MAGA loon”, cman.
For those of you on the radical left, EVERYONE who is not precisely aligned with your extremist views is “far right”.
You will never get a definition from cman, or anyone else who uses that term to deride the folks on the right side of the political aisle. Tried it with several of the leftists on this board, and I got nonsensical answers and circular arguments.
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The leftist know far right MAGA loons because they do not agree with their leftist ideals. Aside from that, they cannot define it.
Cman, speaking of Loons, did you vote for Mary, Mary quite Constitutionally Contrary? Just curious. Seems that given the total number of votes garnered by Sarah and Mary, Alaska’s political skiff is swamped with LOONS. Maga bleaters arapparently being a minority in the Stupid Voter Sweepstakes. This is evidenced by Mary and her Fish and Family NONSENSICAL BABBLING having prevailed over the Screecher from Arizona and her MAGAGAGGING.
Something for you to consider.
Fully one half of Alaska’s population is at risk from the inelegant business practices of ACI Payments, INC.at work on the taxpayers of Alaska. Why just a few days ago they were fined $160,000,000 dollars to be paid to a niggling federal alphabet. Who invited thum though! FOI AHOY!
RCV did not cost Tshibaka to lose the election. It was the failures as Commissioner of Dept of Administration and the lack of understanding of the Alaskan people.
She can’t seem to understand that, ultimately, the reason she lost is that too many people voted for someone else. For that I suppose she could blame her campaign manager and/or staff if that makes her feel better, but, really, the buck stops with her.
Exactly. She had major flaws.
In other words, Waaaaahhh I lost. Back to DC Kelly. We don’t need your Bible thumper Trumper views up here.
Do all of you folks that are talking about future elections really believe that we will still have the US you are talking about ? Elections are Selections. Candidates are fakes. Courts are as slippery as FJB. Our 3 Letter Agency are persecuting any decent from our Masters. News Media is a total propaganda machine, and the list goes on. RCV is just one aspect of the many things that need to be eliminated !
We need to eliminate the ADN as one of the worst cancers we have in Alaska.
Their commie rag and commie pinko writers (they are NOT journalists, they are propaganda machines spewing lefty lies and trying to scare compliance at the idiots that read it).
Boycott ADN along with the rest of the leftist propaganda machines aka mainscream media.
Remember that RCV was sold as a vehicle to remove “dark money” from Alaska elections. Instead, in 2022, it put dark $$$ in the driver’s seat. The very same dark $$$ passed Prop 2 and is currently funding Alaskans for Better Elections campaign to defend it.
The finding that more voters believe that RCV presents a real problem for the repeal initiative people. You aren’t going to simplify a 26 page POS with a 33 page POS. Worse, you open a door for Alaskans for Better Elections mouthpieces like Scott Kendall to drive a truck through. KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid), guys.
Interesting that RCV preferentially suppressed turnout of oldsters, Alaska Natives and what is classified as other minorities. There was a time when voter suppression was a Bad Thing. Apparently not anymore. I suppose it is all about who wins in the new regime.
RCV managed to suppress total turnout in 2022. What was expected to be a 57%-ish turnout based on the contested US Senate Race, open US House race, all but one legislator on the ballot, and a gubernatoral race. We only got 44%, a full 13% undervote. Kelly and Niki answered why. Good work, guys. Now that we have some actual data, time to do something about the results. Cheers –
We need to eliminate the ADN as one of the worst cancers we have in Alaska.
Their commie rag and commie pinko writers (they are NOT journalists, they are propaganda machines spewing lefty lies and trying to scare compliance at the idiots that read it).
Boycott ADN along with the rest of the leftist propaganda machines aka mainscream media.
Two grifters grifting.
It’s what Trump acolytes do best. What a disgusting couple.
Thank God we got Peltola.
Yes, and that god would be Moloch.
What an odd collection of bits and pieces to come to such conclusion. The main reason Ms T was not voted as winner was the voters didn’t want to see an arrogant bigoted upstart whose wholly ‘holier than thou’ farcical posturing intent on feathering her own nest and not interested in representing truth nor care for Alaskans, in the Senate attempting to represent the interest of all Alaskans. Consider Exhibit A; she supported the previous executive’s unholy ‘marvelous little adventurous sojourn with Dick and Sally and Puff’ in the White House, and Exhibit B; she and Dear Hubby ran an unscrupulous campaign against one of the most representative of Alaskans interested in working for benefit of all Alaskans for the sake of Ms T’s personal unhelpful agenda.
I hoped that we’d see the last of Me-Me Ms T but with this article it seems voters of one particular party’s leaning are wont to foist this albatross around the neck of another political election yet again.
Got any numbers to back that up there Mrs. N?
Because if it were not for the massive number of registered Democrats voting for Princess Lisa in the jungle primary, she would not even be on the ballot.
Also, when did Murkowski actually start representing Alaskan’s best interests? What it when she voted for the most anti-resource development Interior Secretary in the history of the USA? Or maybe it was when she voted “present” ensuring that Brett Kavanaugh got on the Supreme court. (An action that was a thumb in the eye to every woman in AK.)
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Please provide your list of accomplishments.
Hear, hear!
Lucifer Boy
As with many R’s they only look at the big picture political races. Hence you have low R voter turn out on the local political races, This has been true in Anchorage,Fairbanks,Juneau, and most recently Palmer. This is the Democrat machine at work be it Local or National.
As far as being on Pills. You need to cut back on the coffee.
Just to be curious have you volunteered on behalf of the Republican Party?
CBM –why do you want a list of my accomplishments? I am not running for office and I have too many skeletons in the closet to contemplate that venture, but the winner of that election did have the majority of votes. Maybe she wasn’t the first choice of everyone, but you can clearly see that Ms T wasn’t in the majority of first-cast voted, nor even the second. The numbers are out there: Ms M 1st 43.4%, 2nd 53.7%; Ms T 1st 42.5%, 2nd 46%. In the decimal positional numeral system which is used in the USA, small numbers represent lesser quantities i.e. in votes. Unless you’d prefer to use some other numbering system, such as the previous president no doubt used frequently in which the smaller the number, the larger the quantity, and the larger the number the larger the quantity. Or, some such. I never really bothered learning that despot’s way of figuring things.
Mrs. N.,
Let’s try the “numbers” in your brain:
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6 grams = weight.
65 = IQ at room temperature.
5¢ = resale on the back lot.
20% = peak operational capacity
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Thank God you aren’t running for office. We have enough sleazy Democrats already. Biden, Fedderman, Pelosi, Feinstein, with numbers similar to yours.
In response to certaintude of my political affiliation, as an Alaskan I can admire Walter J Hickel, William Egan, Jay Hammond, and Tony Knowles, Lisa Murkowski– folks that represent the people of Alaska and their interests, and will work toward their duty of stewardship of the Great Land, among others. What has Kelly Tshibaka done for anyone outside of her faith community?
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