2020 Alaska Measure 2

Measure 2

An Act Replacing the Political Party Primary with an Open Primary System and Ranked-Choice General Election, and Requiring Additional Campaign Finance Disclosures
Results
Response Votes % Yes 174,032 50.55% No 170,251 49.45% Valid votes 344,283 95.41% Invalid or blank votes 16,569 4.59% Total votes 360,852 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 594,966 60.65%
Results by state House district Yes   70–80%   60–70%   50–60% No   60–70%   50–60%
Source: Alaska Division of Elections[1][2]

Elections in Alaska
Federal government Presidential elections 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 Presidential primaries and caucuses Democratic 2008 2016 2020 Republican 2008 2012 2016 U.S. Senate elections 1958 1960 1962 1966 1968 1970 sp 1972 1974 1978 1980 1984 1986 1990 1992 1996 1998 2002 2004 2008 2010 2014 2016 2020 2022 2026 U.S. House elections 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1973 sp 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022
State government State-wide elections 2006 2010 2012 2016 2020 Gubernatorial elections 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 State Senate elections 2014 2016 2018 2020 State House elections 2014 2016 2018 2020 Ballot measures 1990 2 1998 2 2008 ACWI 2014 2 2020 2
Anchorage Mayoral elections 1981 1984 1987 1990 1994 1997 2000 2003 2006 2009 2012 2015 2018 2021 Propositions 2018 (1)
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Alaska Measure 2 was a ballot initiative approved by voters in Alaska as part of the 2020 United States elections. The proposal switched Alaska's primary system to a non-partisan blanket primary, with the top four candidates progressing to the general election (except for the presidential level, as its original primary system is retained, which the national/state political parties will continue to use their primaries), conducted with ranked-choice voting.^[3]

Contents[]

The proposal appeared on the ballot as follows:^[4]

An Act Replacing the Political Party Primary with an Open Primary System and Ranked-Choice General Election, and Requiring Additional Campaign Finance Disclosures

This act would get rid of the party primary system, and political parties would no longer select their candidates to appear on the general election ballot. Instead, this act would create an open nonpartisan primary where all candidates would appear on one ballot. Candidates could choose to have a political party preference listed next to their name or be listed as “undeclared” or “nonpartisan.” The four candidates with the most votes in the primary election would have their names placed on the general election ballot.

This act would establish ranked-choice voting for the general election. Voters would have the option to “rank” candidates in order of choice. Voters would rank their first choice candidate as “1”, second choice candidate as “2”, and so on. Voters “1” choice would be counted first. If no candidate received a majority after counting the first-ranked votes, then the candidate with the fewest “1” votes would be removed from counting. Those ballots that ranked the removed candidate as "1" would then be counted for the voters' “2” ranked candidate. This process would repeat until one candidate received a majority of the remaining votes. If voters still want to choose only one candidate, they can.

This act would also require additional disclosures for contributions to independent expenditure groups and relating to the sources of contributions. It would also require a disclaimer on paid election communications by independent expenditure groups funded by a majority of out of state money.

Should this initiative become law?

Results[]

The proposal was narrowly approved, with 50.55% of the vote.^[1]

References[]