Alaska voters keep ranked choice voting and top-four primary system

Alaska voters have decided to keep the state’s nonpartisan primary system and ranked choice voting, according to an overnight race call by the Associated Press.

The ballot measure that sought to repeal these methods failed on Tuesday. This marks the second time in four years that Alaskans have rejected an effort to change the election system they first approved in 2020. A previous repeal attempt in 2024 also fell short by a narrow margin.

The 2026 election drew national attention to Alaska’s process due to the U.S. Senate race. Two candidates with the same name appeared on the four-person general election ballot. The race is likely to proceed to a ranked-choice tabulation to determine the winner.

Nick Troiano, executive director of Unite America, a venture fund supporting nonpartisan electoral reform, released a statement before the Associated Press made its call. He said, 'Alaskans of all political stripes have spoken: They want the freedom to vote for any candidate, regardless of party, in every taxpayer-funded election.' Troiano added that the state is demonstrating a viable alternative to general elections that often function as coronations.

Alaska’s system differs from the top-two nonpartisan primaries used in California and Washington. In Alaska, the top four candidates from the primary advance to the general election. If no candidate secures a majority of the vote, ranked choice voting is used to eliminate candidates until one holds more than half the support.

Opponents of the current system argued it was confusing and susceptible to manipulation. They pointed to the Senate race, where an independent candidate named Dan Sullivan was alleged to be a Democratic-backed spoiler intended to siphon votes from the Republican incumbent, who is also named Dan Sullivan. Democrats denied recruiting the independent candidate, who has defended his right to remain on the ballot.

Proponents of the system noted that ranked choice voting allowed voters to rank both Sullivans while skipping Democrat Mary Peltola, potentially mitigating confusion. This year, Massachusetts voters declined to adopt a top-two nonpartisan primary. In 2024, voters in several other states also rejected ballot measures that would have created systems similar to Alaska’s.