Votes Supporting Ranked Choice Still Ahead Of Opponents. Barely

UPDATE: Ranked Choice Opponents Trailing By 45 Votes As Of November 19th, 2024 

Every single vote apparently counts. The Anchorage Daily News has reported that as of Tuesday, November 19th, the ballot count showed that opponents to ranked choice voting were trailing by 45 votes.  The final count is scheduled for Wednesday.  

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FROM THE ALASKA BEACON...  

Ranked choice repeal trails for first time since Alaska ballot counting started

BY: ANDREW KITCHENMAN - NOVEMBER 18, 2024 

     

 Eight candidates for U.S. president appear on this 2024 Alaska absentee ballot, as well as instructions for ranked choice voting. (Photo by Andrew Kitchenman/Alaska Beacon)

A ballot measure that would repeal Alaska’s open primary and ranked choice election system is trailing for the first time since unofficial election results were announced on Election Day. 

As of Monday afternoon’s update, there are 192 more votes opposing the measure than supporting it. If the remaining roughly 5,100 ballots follow trends in absentee, early and questioned ballots so far, then Alaska will keep its voting system for at least another two years. 

The Alaska Division of Elections vote count on Monday added 2,427 ballots of voters opposed to the measure and 1,340 supporting it. 

The update led to a stark reversal in the lead. In the previous count, the yes votes led by 895 ballots. The 192-vote margin equals less than 1/10 of 1 percentage point of the 314,056 votes. 

Recounts are only automatic under Alaska law in case of ties. But any group of 10 voters can ask for a recount within five days of the results being certified. The certification is scheduled for Nov. 30, so the recount application deadline is Dec. 5. The state will pay for a recount if the vote margin is less than .5%.

The election system has drawn national attention. The opponents of the ballot measure outspent repeal supporters by many times, with funding for the opposition coming primarily from groups based outside of Alaska. 

In other news, Republican U.S. House candidate Nick Begich’s lead over Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, narrowed by 1,115 votes. Begich’s lead of 7,223 is larger than the estimated number of ballots left to count, and is positioned to grow once the ranked choice tabulation is performed, which is scheduled for Wednesday. The third-highest vote getter in the race is Alaskan Independence Party candidate John Wayne Howe. 

There were no changes to any legislative race leaders. But Anchorage Democratic Rep. Cliff Groh saw his lead increase over Republican former Rep. David Nelson. Groh leads by 25 votes out of more than 3,500 cast. Groh’s lead had narrowed to only 10 votes in the previous count.