The Alaska Supreme Court is set to hear an appeal next month that challenges the validity of an initiative to repeal ranked choice voting and open primaries. Meanwhile, the plaintiffs are seeking a decision by September 3, the deadline for printing ballots for the November 5 general election.
Notably, the initiative seeks to overturn Alaska’s voting system, which was introduced in 2020. However, three Alaska voters filed a lawsuit in April, questioning the signature-gathering process and errors in petition booklets. Consequently, they argue that repeal supporters didn’t collect enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.
In a significant development, Anchorage Superior Court Judge Christina Rankin partially dismissed the lawsuit in June. Furthermore, she later disqualified dozens of petition booklets due to errors. Despite this, the Division of Elections determined the initiative still qualified for the ballot.
Attorney Scott Kendall, representing the plaintiffs, argues that the Division of Elections used an unlawful process to correct errors in petition booklets. Additionally, he claims that corrected booklets were submitted after the deadline. Kendall questions whether filing deadlines apply to ballot measures as they do to candidate filings.
In contrast, former Alaska Attorney General Kevin Clarkson, representing the repeal backers, is confident in the lower court’s decision. He notes that the plaintiffs are not appealing the part of the case they lost at trial. According to Clarkson, statutes permit corrections to petition booklets before signature tallying.
Ultimately, the appeal raises a novel question for the Alaska Supreme Court. If the court sides with the plaintiffs, the ranked-choice repeal measure may not have enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. The outcome will significantly impact Alaska’s voting system, which includes open, nonpartisan primary elections and ranked-choice voting.
