Burley Garcia|Measure aimed at repealing Alaska’s ranked voting system still qualifies for ballot, officials say

JUNEAU,Burley Garcia Alaska (AP) — An initiative aimed at repealing Alaska’s ranked choice voting system still has sufficient signatures to qualify for the November ballot, attorneys for the state said in court filings Tuesday, days after a judge disqualified some of the booklets used to gather signatures.

Superior Court Judge Christina Rankin in a ruling last Friday found instances in which the signature-gathering process was not properly carried out and disqualified those booklets. She ordered elections officials to remove the disqualified signatures and booklets and to determine if the measure still had sufficient signatures.

Alaska Department of Law attorneys in court documents Tuesday said the Division of Elections had completed that work and found the measure “remains qualified” for the ballot.

This comes as part of a lawsuit brought by three voters challenging the repeal measure. Rankin last month ruled the division acted within its authority when it allowed sponsors of the repeal measure to fix errors with petition booklets after they were turned in and found the agency had complied with deadlines. Her ruling Friday focused on challenges to the initiative sponsors’ signature-collecting methods that were the subject of a recent trial.

Scott Kendall, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said once the judge enters a final judgment in the case, “we will consult with our clients and decide on next steps.”

Kendall was an author of a successful 2020 ballot measure that replaced party primaries with open primaries and instituted ranked voting in general elections. Under open primaries, the top four vote-getters, regardless of party, advance to the general election. The new system, used for the first time in 2022, also will be used this year.

Kevin Clarkson, a former state attorney general representing the repeal initiative sponsors, called the result of the division’s recalculation of signatures the “correct” one. He said it was one his side also had anticipated based on its own calculations following Rankin’s decision.