Ranked choice supporters accuse Alaska election officials of using ‘untrue’ language in repeal ballot measure

Three Alaskans sued state election officials Thursday, alleging that language adopted by the state for a ballot measure seeking to repeal Alaska’s open primary and ranked choice voting system is “untrue, incomplete, and partisan.”

They contend that the state’s ballot language is different from the language that was provided on the signature petitions circulated by the repeal campaign.

Bringing the lawsuit in Anchorage Superior Court are Cathy Giessel, a Republican state senator; Joelle Hall, president of the Alaska AFL-CIO union federation and a Democrat; and Wáahlaal Gidaag Barbara Blake, a Juneau resident and a nonpartisan.

“Deficiencies, partisan suasion, and falsehoods in that ballot language give rise to this litigation,” their complaint says.

Sam Curtis, a spokesperson with the Alaska Department of Law, said in a statement that the “ballot language at issue is accurate, neutral, and consistent with prior initiatives. The alternative language advanced by the plaintiffs would be confusing and inject advocacy where the law requires impartial description. We are confident the courts will uphold the state’s language.”

The plaintiffs support the state’s open primary and ranked choice voting system. It was approved by Alaska voters through an earlier ballot measure in 2020. They also support the ban on dark money contributions in state and local elections, according to the lawsuit.

Their complaint says the new ballot measure seeks to fully repeal the prior ballot measure and undo the three policies.

The complaint was filed by Anchorage attorney Scott Kendall, one of the main architects of the open primary and ranked choice system.

The state’s voting system, which includes allowing all primary candidates to appear on a single ballot, has altered the sway of political parties over election results since it was first implemented in 2022.

It changed the earlier system, where Alaskans voted in closed primaries governed by the state’s largest political parties.

The Alaska Republican Party has made repealing the current voting system one of its top goals.

Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy has endorsed the repeal, asserting that the current system is difficult for voters to understand.

The complaint names as defendants the state Division of Elections; Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, who administers elections in Alaska; and Carol Beecher, head of the Alaska Division of Elections.

Dahlstrom did not respond to a request for an interview placed with her office. The elections division referred questions to the Department of Law.

Last month, Dahlstrom, a Republican candidate for governor, said Repeal Now, the group seeking to repeal the open primary and ranked choice voting system, had gathered enough signatures to place the question on the ballot.

Dahlstrom said the repeal group gathered 42,837 qualified signatures, exceeding the requirement of having 34,098 total from residents of at least 30 state House districts.

The measure could appear before voters in Nov. 3 general election, or in the Aug. 20 primary, depending on when the Legislature adjourns.

Chair Judy Eledge and others with Repeal Now, the group seeking to repeal the voting system, did not respond to requests for comment.

Late last month, Dahlstrom also announced the proposed ballot title and summary for the measure that would appear on the ballot, the complaint says. That language led to the lawsuit.

The new complaint says the state created and adopted ballot language that provides “neither a ‘true’ nor ‘impartial’ summary” of the proposition that seeks to undo the current voting structure, violating state law and the Alaska Constitution.

The plaintiffs contend in the complaint that the ballot language misrepresents what the measure would do, including by saying it will “restore campaign finance laws.”

The proposed repeal measure would not restore or “add even a single campaign finance rule to Alaska’s statutes,” the complaint says.

“Rather (it) would fully repeal a litany of campaign finance disclosure requirements, and eliminate enhanced fines for certain campaign finance violations that were adopted by voters through” the earlier ballot measure, the complaint says.

The lawsuit also argues that the language adopted by the state fails to disclose that the measure would give parties the power to exclude voters who are not members of their party, including nonpartisan and undeclared voters, from voting in their primaries, Alaskans for Better Elections said in a prepared statement.

More than 60% of Alaska’s voters are not registered with either party and could be prohibited from voting in primaries, according to a statement from Alaskans for Better Elections, the group that installed the existing voting system.

“The language explaining what they’re voting on must be simple, complete, and impartial,” Giessel said in a statement from the group. “Alaska has uniquely strong dark money disclosure laws that ensure voters know who is spending money on political campaigns, and yet the current ballot language fails even to mention it would repeal these laws, along with open primaries and ranked choice voting.”

The repeal group recently reported that it has taken in $263,000 and has a deficit of about $10,000, in filings with Alaska Public Offices Commission.

The vast majority of its contributions has come from the Aurora Action Network, a political action committee registered with the Federal Election Commission, with a Wisconsin address.

A major expense in November included $59,000 for Upcard, a Florida-based signature-gathering company, according to the filing.

Protect Alaska’s Elections, a group formed to defend the open primary and ranked-choice system, recently reported raising $209,000, with $162,000 remaining.

Nearly all the money so far has come from Unite America PAC, a Denver-based group that was the largest funder of the campaign that enacted the open primary and ranked-choice system.

The group lists lawsuit plaintiffs Giessel and Hall as some of the deputy treasurers, in filings with the public offices commission.

A previous effort to repeal the open primary and ranked-choice system narrowly failed in the 2024 election.

In that election, proponents of open primaries and ranked choice voting spent millions of dollars on advertising, far outspending the grassroots effort to repeal.