Alaska offers a proof of concept for how Unite America plays a critical role in winning election reform that improves our political system.
Under Alaska’s old election system, independent voters — which make up 58% of the state’s electorate — did not have a guaranteed right to participate in the state’s partisan primaries. Further, growing partisanship with the state legislature led to gridlock over solving the state’s problems and five state legislators were “primaried” out of office in 2020 for working across the aisle.
In 2019, a group of Alaskans — Democrats, Republicans, and independents — came together to solve their state’s Primary Problem. The organization, Alaskans for Better Elections, collected over 30,000 signatures to get an initiative on the ballot, defended the initiative from attack in the Alaska Supreme Court, and ultimately won support among a majority of voters.
With the passage of Ballot Measure 2, Alaska became the first state in the country to adopt top-four nonpartisan primaries and instant runoff general elections (also known as Final-Four Voting). The new reform ensures that (i) all eligible voters can vote for any candidate, regardless of party, in every taxpayer-funded election, and (ii) winning candidates are required to win a majority of the vote.
Alaska implemented its top-four nonpartisan primary in 2022. After one election cycle, we can already see evidence of its positive impact.
All candidates appear on the same ballot regardless of party. All voters can participate, and vote for one candidate. The top four finishers advance to the general election.
Voters have the option to rank their choices. First-place votes are counted. If no candidate gets a majority, the election goes to an instant runoff. The candidate with the fewest votes gets eliminated. The second-place votes for those who selected the eliminated candidate are counted, and the process repeats until there is a majority winner.
In 2022, voters elected a conservative Republican governor, moderate Republican U.S. senator, and moderate Democratic U.S. representative. The new system did not tilt the outcomes toward one party or another; rather, it gave more power to all voters and produced the most representative outcomes. While Republicans retained a numerical advantage in the state legislature, bipartisan governing majorities emerged in both the state house and state senate.
Unlike the state’s previous primary system, Alaskans of all stripes can participate in primaries to determine the top general election contenders.
In both primary and general elections, elections are more competitive and feature candidates that represent the state’s political, geographical, and demographic diversity.
Voters can rank their preferences, which gives them greater influence under an instant runoff in case their top choice doesn’t earn majority support outright.
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Rather than campaigning to just their party’s base, candidates are incentivized to reach out to all voters.
Elected leaders can support a policy that is backed by a majority of their constituents, even if it may be unpopular with the base of their party, without a fear of getting “primaried” out of office.
Our successful track record in Alaska exemplifies our approach to investing in election reform at each step of the way — from inception to evaluation.
of self-identified Democrats, Republicans, and Independents reported similar or better quality candidates in 2022 versus previous elections
McKinley Researchof Alaskans support the state’s new primary system, which originally passed with 51% of the vote
Patinkin Research Strategiesof Alaska voters across demographics said it was “simple” to fill out their ranked choice ballot
Patinkin Research Strategies
