Two petitions were filed this week in new efforts to repeal ranked choice voting and open primaries in Alaska.

Alaska voters narrowly approved retaining the voting system during the Nov. 5 election. The margin was 743 votes after a recount was requested by the Alaska Republican Party.

The dueling proposed initiatives are similar.

The first petition was filed by Philip Izon, the Wasilla resident who led the signature-gathering campaign for the recently defeated repeal effort.

Izon’s new ballot measure is all but identical to the first one. It would again repeal ranked choice voting and the top-four open primary system Alaska voters narrowly approved four years ago.

The second petition, filed by former Eagle River Republican Rep. Ken McCarty, would also eliminate the voting system. But it would go further.

McCarty’s initiative would repeal a provision intended to combat “dark money” that was also approved by Alaska voters in 2020.

That provision has required greater financial disclosures by groups giving money to state candidates.

In November, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge filed by conservative groups to Alaska’s new campaign disclosure rules.

Both repeal petitions were submitted to the lieutenant governor’s office Dec. 16 — the first step to getting an initiative on the 2026 ballot.

Republican Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom has until Feb. 14 to determine whether the petitions will be certified for signature gathering.

“It is clear that many Alaskans remain concerned about the impact of ranked-choice voting on our electoral process. I respect that these concerns are again being channeled into a legal framework for repeal,” she said Wednesday in a prepared statement.

Dahlstrom said she is working with the Alaska Department of Law to ensure the petitions meet requirements set out in state law. She said the process would be fair and transparent.

If certified, the initiative groups would have a year to collect just over 34,000 signatures from voters across the state.

Initiative petitions require signatures from three sponsors and 100 voters.

McCarty’s petition was signed by two prominent conservatives as sponsors: Bernadette Wilson, interim executive director of the Alaska Policy Forum, and Judy Eledge, president of the Anchorage Republican Women’s Club.

The club posted to social media Wednesday, saying “strong Republican women” would repeal ranked choice voting. The post encouraged supporters not to donate to any other group.

Izon said he had not been told a second repeal effort was being launched. He said that felt like “sabotage.”

The Alaska Republican Party supported the 2024 repeal effort. But Izon said he expected the party would back McCarty’s petition.

“I get along with lots of other states’ GOPs, but the Alaska GOP is not one of them,” he said in a Thursday interview.

McCarty, Wilson and Eledge did not respond to requests for comment.

Carmela Warfield, chair of the Alaska Republican Party, said the party’s state central committee unanimously approved a motion to oppose ranked choice voting in September. Warfield said she signed McCarty’s repeal application in a personal capacity, and believed it would be successful.

“Then, we can do what’s best for Alaska and return to a system of fair elections that all Alaskans — regardless of party affiliation — can be proud of,” she said.

Izon acknowledged that the two signature-gathering efforts could potentially divide supporters and be confusing.

If McCarty’s petition looks more promising, Izon said he would delay his repeal campaign until the 2028 election.

Izon’s petition was also signed by his wife, Diamond Izon, as a sponsor and Lee Hammermeister, a newly registered Democrat.

Hammermeister said that he was inspired to join the repeal effort because he saw voters confused by ranked choice voting.

The Alaska Democratic Party has supported retaining the voting system. The party declined to endorse Hammermeister as he ran against Eagle River GOP Sen. Kelly Merrick.

Ranked choice voting, open primaries and the new campaign disclosure rules were used in both the 2022 and 2024 election cycles.

“Results have proven that the system does not favor any party, it allows voters to more freely express their will and hold their representatives accountable,” said Juli Lucky, executive director of No on 2, the group that favored retaining the voting system.

“Alaskans have spoken on this issue, repeatedly, they want to keep the power of the electoral process where it belongs — with Alaskan voters,” she said.

North Pole, Alaska — ‘Twas the week before Christmas and plenty was stirring at the Santa Claus House in the city of North Pole, Alaska.

The iconic Christmas-themed store checked its list twice, realizing that it is far more naughty than nice if any of the gifts it sends out arrive late to their destinations around the globe.

“People are used to waiting until the very last minute to shop online, which presents a challenge for us having to process that order and ship it out from Alaska,” said Paul Brown, manager of the Santa Claus House, which for decades has been sending thousands of annual Santa letters to children worldwide.

In North Pole, which is located about 13 miles southeast of Fairbanks, candy canes double as street lights, and Christmas takes on special meaning for resident and FedEx driver Bill Soplu. 

“Yeah, this is a wonderful time of the year,” Soplu said. “Everybody’s so happy right now, so it makes our job a lot easier.”

The cold weather doesn’t diminish Souplou’s cheer.

“Just the other day it was 30 above, you know, and then you wake up the next morning, it’s 30 below,” he said.

Nor do the moose.

“We don’t want to mess around with those guys,” he adds.

The gifts Soplu is delivering come from an airfield 20 miles down a frozen road. There are only a few hours of daylight in Fairbanks during the winter months, and the temperature hovers around zero.

An average of 3,000 packages a day come through Fairbanks during the holiday season. Capt. Joseph Erikson is a delivery pilot for FedEx. 

“I know there’s a good chance there’s a special present on that plane, and it’s important to get that to that family,” Erikson told CBS News.

Before they reach Fairbanks, shipments from around the world first come through a sprawling FedEx sorting center at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.

During the holidays, there are 33 delivery planes a day which fly in and out of Anchorage carrying about 80,000 packages. The planes run around the clock so gifts can span the globe in as little as 24 hours.

“We’ve been putting these plans in place for months so we can make sure we’re getting those packages to our customers,” said David Lewis, senior manager for surface operations for FedEx in Alaska.

Vancouver, British Columbia–(Newsfile Corp. – December 19, 2024) – Valhalla Metals Inc. (TSXV: VMXX) (OTCQB: VMXXF) (“Valhalla” or the “Company“) provides an update on the Ambler Mining District Access Road.

The proposed Ambler Access Road is planned to cross Valhalla State mining claims at the Sun project and would unlock a host of critical and strategic metals located in the Ambler Mining District – all metals necessary for the green energy and transportation transition and to ensure a secure domestic supply chains for these metals.

On December 16, 2024, Governor Mike Dunleavy submitted a report to the Trump Transition team in Washington D.C. titled “Alaska Priorities for Federal Transition”. The report details both immediate and long-term actions that can be taken to reverse the devastating impact of more than 60 sanctions the Biden administration imposed on Alaska, and how unlocking Alaska’s minerals, oil and natural gas, and other natural resources will benefit both the state and national economy. Priority #1 is described as “”Get Back to Where We Were” and specific to the Ambler Access Road, urges the President-elect to “…rescind the unlawful Biden Administration ROD and issue a new decision restoring the right-of-way permits previously granted to the State” as the Biden Administration’s 2024 No Action Alternative ROD is a direct violation of ANILCA.

In the transition cover letter, Governor Dunleavy tells President-elect Trump, “Your election will hail in a new era of optimism and opportunity, and Alaska stands ready to and is eager to work with you to repair this damage wrought by the previous administration, and to set both Alaska and America on a course to prosperity.”

Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse, Chairman of Valhalla said: “It is well known in Alaska that the Biden administration broke the law when the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) selected the “No Action Alternative” in their Supplemental EIS Record of Decision issued earlier this year. The Alaska National Interest Land Conservation Act (ANILCA) passed in 1980 is very clear that the Secretary of Interior shall grant a right-of-way across Federal lands to connect the Ambler Mining District with the Dalton Highway corridor. It has now been more than ten years of “official” permitting process since the formal application was made. It is high time the Federal Government does what it promised 45 years ago. Let Alaska develop its resources for the benefit of all Alaskans and all Americans.”

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