Who Lost Alaska, Palin or Ranked Choice?

Alaska’s next Member of Congress will be a Democrat, Mary Peltola. She beat two Republicans in a special election held Aug. 16 under the state’s new ranked-choice voting system. Congratulations to Ms. Peltola, and no disrespect intended . . . but what in the heck? Alaska voted for President Trump in 2020 by 10 points. Is this now the true will of the electorate?

Democrat Mary Peltola wins in a Republican state under a new voting system.

In Alaska, the first-choice votes show the GOP divide: Ms. Peltola led with 40.2%. Ms. Palin held 31.3%. Another Republican, Nick Begich, took 28.5%. That meant Mr. Begich was eliminated and then his supporters were reshuffled. Where did they go? Half ranked Ms. Palin second. Slightly more than a quarter migrated to Ms. Peltola, perhaps including some of the Republicans who couldn’t stand Ms. Palin.

Another 20.9% of Mr. Begich’s supporters, or 11,222 people, made no second choice. Was this because they didn’t like Ms. Palin but also couldn’t vote for a Democrat? Was it a protest against ranked-choice voting? Did they not understand the ballot? Perhaps some of each. Hence the final outcome: Ms. Peltola with 51.5% to Ms. Palin’s 48.5%.

The point is that ranked-choice voting encourages such strategic gamesmanship.

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