Though Alaskans approved ranked choice voting nearly five years ago, the debate about whether it actually benefits voters persists. At a Juneau Chamber of Commerce Luncheon on Thursday, two speakers shared what they think of the system.
Alaska uses a ranked choice voting system for statewide elections. Voters approved it in 2020 and used it for the first time in 2022, though there have been attempts to repeal it. The system allows voters to rank candidates by preference.
Rebecca Braun is on the board of Alaskans for Better Elections and spoke in favor of the system. Braun argued that ranked choice voting encourages voter participation and reduces political polarization.
“It might not be perfect, but I think that it’s better,” she said. “I don’t think there’s any voting system that like has no distortions. Mathematicians study this, and there’s almost nothing where you have 100% perfect outcomes. But this seems like to me a better system.”
Alaska is one of only two states that use ranked choice voting. Ten Republican-led states have banned it. Murray Walsh spoke against the system at the forum. He’s a retired land use consultant and is a part of a statewide campaign to repeal ranked choice voting.
Walsh argued it makes voting unnecessarily complicated and unfairly gives Democrats an advantage. The Alaska Republican Party has consistently opposed ranked choice voting.
“Anytime you take something that people do understand and make it more complicated so that they don’t understand it, and then you’re alienating the voter,” he said.
According to data from the state’s Division of Elections, Juneau voters appear to support ranked choice voting. The capital city overwhelmingly voted against an effort to repeal the statewide system last year, which only very narrowly failed statewide.
Though the discussion on Thursday centered around ranked choice voting in state elections, the City and Borough of Juneau could soon be the first major Alaska city to adopt the system. Larger cities in the U.S. like New York, San Francisco and Minneapolis already use ranked choice voting in local elections.
Earlier this summer, Juneau Assembly member Ella Adkison proposed an ordinance to adopt the system locally. She said the change will help build community consensus. The Assembly chose to delay voting on the ordinance until after this fall’s local election. Members are expected to take the topic back up in the coming weeks.
Correction: A previous version of this story used the wrong title for Rebecca Braun.
