A last-minute bipartisan effort to update Alaska’s election laws does not include new campaign contribution limits, nor does it make changes to the state’s open primaries and ranked choice voting system.
filed last year, which accused the state officials of violating voters’ constitutional rights by failing to implement a process to fix defective ballots. The bill would give voters the opportunity to correct their ballots if there are errors, including a missing or unverifiable signature or identifier.
The bill would also allow the Division of Elections to begin counting absentee ballots before election day and require election workers to post early tabulations of ranked choice elections before all ballots are counted. In 2022, Alaskans had totwo weeks after election day to get the results of some races that came down to ranked choice tabulations, because election officials had decided not to release preliminary tabulations.
Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer, left, talks with Rep. George Rauscher, R-Sutton, on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023 at the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau. “But at the same time, I personally believe that most candidates for office and most elected officials would prefer to spend their time campaigning rather than fundraising,” Kawasaki said.
In a hearing Tuesday on a bill to repeal ranked choice voting and open primaries, Vance, who introduced the bill, said that it had been the top issue she had heard about from her constituents. She said that the system, which allows voters to rank up to four candidates on the general election ballot, was overly complex and confusing.
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