Alaska Ranked-Choice Voting Could Sink Challenge to Senate Result: Analysts
Summary
With 74 percent of Alaska’s votes counted, Democrat Mary Peltola narrowly led Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, 48.17 percent to 47.88 percent. Analysts said Alaska’s ranked-choice system would transfer ballots from eliminated candidates according to voters’ next choices, making it unlikely that votes for a so-called decoy candidate would change the outcome; overseas ballots were due by November 18.Key Facts
- Peltola led Sullivan by 0.29 percentage points with 74 percent of votes counted.
- Gerald L. Heikes had 2.27 percent of the vote, and unaffiliated candidate Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. had 1.68 percent.
- Alaska voters approved ranked-choice voting and an open primary in a 2020 statewide referendum.
- In Alaska’s system, the last-place candidate is eliminated if no one wins a majority of first-choice votes, and those ballots move to voters’ next choices.
- Professor Mark Brown said the system largely or completely addresses concerns that the additional candidates could change the outcome.
- Trump called for votes for Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. and Heikes to be added to Dan Sullivan’s total and had filed a lawsuit seeking to block certification if the votes affected the result.
- Alaska planned to accept overseas ballots through November 18 and publish the race results that day.
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