Alaska Measure 2 was a ballot initiative narrowly approved by voters in
Alaska
Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
as part of the
2020 United States elections
Elections in the United States, Elections were held in the United States on November 3, 2020. The Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party's nominee, former Vice presidents of the United States, vice president Joe Biden, defeated incu ...
. The proposal switched Alaska's primary system to a
non-partisan blanket primary. The top four candidates progress to the general election, which is conducted with
ranked-choice voting. Voting for U.S. president will continue to utilize primaries based on political party, but ranked-choice voting will still be used in the general election. The initiative also requires additional disclosures of campaign financing.
In 2024, another
Alaska Ballot Measure 2 was voted on by citizens as to whether to repeal this system and return to
partisan primaries and
plurality voting
Plurality voting refers to electoral systems in which the candidates in an electoral district who poll more than any other (that is, receive a plurality) are elected.
Under single-winner plurality voting, and in systems based on single-member ...
. Repeal failed by an even narrower margin.
Background
The campaign for Alaska Measure 2 followed on political activist groups seeking to change the electoral rules in Alaska. Throughout the campaign a high volume of campaign funding came from sources outside Alaska. At the end of the campaign, the overwhelming majority of the money spent in the race was spent by groups in favor of the measure. In 2020 a high percentage of Alaskans identified as political independents.
Contents
The proposal appeared on the ballot as follows:
Results
The proposal was narrowly approved, with 50.55% of the vote.
References
{{reflist
measure 2
Alaska Measure 2
Alaska ballot measures
Electoral reform referendums
Electoral system ballot measures in the United States