An initiative is circulating in Alaska that would end the ability of political parties to nominate candidates, except in presidential elections. It would require all candidates to appear on the August primary ballot. Then, the top four candidates from the primary would be the only candidates who could appear on the general election ballot. The general election ballot would use ranked choice voting. Without ranked choice voting, the general election ballot in many cases would feature three candidates from one party, and only one from another party, which would be obviously unfair to the party with three candidates.
The initiative combines that idea with campaign finance restrictions. The description of the initiative, as shown on the petitions, starts with this sentence: “Prohibits the use of dark money by independent expenditure groups working to influence candidate elections in Alaska and require additional disclosures by these groups.”
This initiative seems to violate the rule that requires initiatives to be on single subjects. Furthermore, it is irrational for the proponents to retain the primary. If parties will no longer nominate candidates, and ranked choice voting will be used, one wonders why the primary should be retained.
The initiative makes it more difficult for parties to retain their place on the ballot. Current law lets them remain on with either a vote test or a registration test. The initiative eliminates the vote test.
Proponents need 28,501 signatures. If they complete the drive by early 2020, it would appear on the November 2020 ballot. If they take longer, it would appear on the 2022 ballot. Thanks to Rob Richie for this news.