Somebody is smokin’ Mantanuska Thunderfreak if they think once democrats get power like this that anything short of nuclear war will ever wrest it back. Alaska is blue now, forever
“This can occur when voters fail to rank all the candidates on the ballot”
This is exactly the same as not voting whenever you don’t like either candidate in a regular Dem v Rep general election.
“During the 2022 midterms, Democrat Mary Peltola defeated former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in the race for Alaska’s at-large congressional district as a result of ranked-choice voting. “
Peltola beat Palin because a number of Begich’s voter preferred Peltola over Palin.
Same old story. The voters are deep red, but the legislature is dominated by RINOs. RCV ensures MAGA candidates lose. It’s okay with RINOs if a Democrat wins over MAGA.
Only the people who voted for the least-like candidate gets their second choice vote counted, essentially a revote that nobody else gets if it were a run-off election instead.
If a candidate drops out of a 4-way race, everyone should get the chance to choose again in a new 3-way race, not just the supporters of the loser. Also, voters who sat out the 4-way race should also have the opportunity to join in a 3-way race despite not voting in the 4-way race.
Furthermore, a person's second choice might depend on who loses the first round. Ranked choice voting makes the voter lock in their preferences despite not knowing what the elimination path will look like, taking away their right to change their minds based on the changed field of candidates.
For these reasons, ranked choice voting is clearly unconstitutional and should be blocked by the courts if the legislation can't stop it on their own. Besides, it shouldn't be stopped on a state-by-state level, it should be stopped nationally for being an unconstitutional binding of a person's future vote that would not exist if true run-off elections were held.
-PJ
Well, the problem is, once you let your elections get hijacked, it’s almost impossible to get them un-hijacked again. Usually you won’t do it without bloodshed.