05/10/2023 01:00 PM House JUDICIARY

          HB 4-ELECTIONS: REPEAL RANKED CHOICE VOTING                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
5:06:56 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR VANCE announced  that the final order of  business would be                                                               
HOUSE BILL NO. 4, "An Act relating to elections."                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
5:07:14 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
JAKE  ALMEIDA, Staff,  Representative Sarah  Vance, Alaska  State                                                               
Legislature, presented  HB 4 on  behalf of  Representative Vance,                                                               
prime sponsor.   He stated that  HB 4 was a  62-section bill that                                                               
would  repeal ranked  choice voting  (RCV), which  was passed  in                                                               
2020 as a  ballot initiative [Ballot Measure  2, Top-Four Ranked-                                                               
Choice  Voting  and  Campaign Finance  Laws  Initiative  (2020)].                                                               
Ballot  Measure  2  instituted a  ranked  choice  voting  system,                                                               
created a one ballot primary  system, and established protections                                                               
for financial disclosures  related to dark money.   He noted that                                                               
the bill would  exclude from repealing the  dark money provisions                                                               
that  were included  in the  ballot initiative.   He  stated that                                                               
according to  the bill  sponsor, the number  one issue  raised by                                                               
Alaskans  was  to   repeal  RCV.    The  issue   rose  above  the                                                               
conversation  of  the  base  student  allocation  (BSA)  and  the                                                               
permanent  fund  dividend  (PFD),  he added.    He  proceeded  to                                                               
paraphrase  the  sponsor  statement [included  in  the  committee                                                               
packet], which read as follows [original punctuation provided]:                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
     House  Bill  4  repeals  rank choice  voting  and  open                                                                  
     primaries, returning  the election  process to  the way                                                                    
     Alaskans  voted  prior  to Ballot  Measure  2  of  2020                                                                    
     except  for  areas in  statute  the  courts have  found                                                                    
     unconstitutional.  This  bill  attempts to  remedy  the                                                                    
     constitutional  issues by  providing for  combined open                                                                    
     primaries  and  omitting  the  requirement  that  party                                                                    
     nominees be registered as a member of that party.                                                                          
     The ballot  measure that transformed  Alaska's election                                                                    
     system in 2020  passed by a narrow margin  of less than                                                                    
     1  percent. The  campaign led  Alaskans to  believe the                                                                    
     ballot  measure would  do away  with "dark  money" only                                                                    
     and that it  would give them "more  options" in voting.                                                                    
     Most Alaskan's  did not  know that  it would  upend our                                                                    
     way of  voting that has  always been one  person equals                                                                    
     one vote.  Many voters  have expressed  buyer's remorse                                                                    
     since passage. In fact, recent  polling shows that that                                                                    
     majority  of Alaskans  strongly  agree  to repeal  rank                                                                    
     choice voting.                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
     This  bill  allows  combined open  primaries  when  two                                                                    
     parties   request   jointly,   and   implements   court                                                                    
     decisions  in  State  v. Democratic  Party,  from  2018                                                                    
     holding that requirement  that candidates register with                                                                    
     a   party  when   seeking  party   nomination  violates                                                                    
     parties' free speech associational  rights and State v.                                                                    
     Green Party of Alaska  in 2005 holding that prohibition                                                                    
     on parties  combining primary ballots under  the system                                                                    
     established in  AS 15.25.010, 15.25.014,  and 15.25.060                                                                    
     is unconstitutional.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
     House Bill  4 seeks to  implement the will  of Alaskans                                                                  
     by returning us to  the historical and trusted election                                                                    
     process where one person equals one vote.                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
5:10:50 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MR. ALMEIDA  reported that one  in eight rural  Alaskans' ballots                                                               
were rejected in  the special congressional primary  of 2022 with                                                               
up  to 17  percent of  ballots being  rejected due  to a  lack of                                                               
signature  or  identifier.    He   stated  that  RCV  added  more                                                               
complication  to an  already  disenfranchised voting  population.                                                               
He referenced studies that showed  that jurisdictions with higher                                                               
proportions of  older voters  were more  likely to  report ballot                                                               
marking  mistakes,  increasing  the   potential  for  a  rejected                                                               
ballot.  Furthermore,  Fair Vote, a proponent of  RCV, found that                                                               
the  prevalence  of ranking  three  candidates  was lowest  among                                                               
African  Americans,  Latinos,  voters with  less  education,  and                                                               
those whose  first language was  not English.  He  purported that                                                               
RCV had failed to increase  voter turnout or provide more options                                                               
to voters  as promised.   Instead,  it increased  voter confusion                                                               
and disenfranchisement  that caused  the lowest voter  turnout in                                                               
decades.   He  urged the  legislature  to return  to the  trusted                                                               
process of "one person equals  one vote" and concluded by sharing                                                               
a quote from the report, titled  "A False Majority," by the Maine                                                               
Heritage Policy Center [included in the committee packet].                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
5:14:13 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR VANCE thanked  Mr. Almeida and announced that,  due to time                                                               
constraints, she  would not be taking  committee questions today.                                                               
She  reiterated  that the  bill  would  return Alaska's  election                                                               
system  to  [the  system  that   was  in  place  before  RCV  was                                                               
instituted]  except  for  areas deemed  unconstitutional  by  the                                                               
courts, while leaving the dark  money provisions in place.  Aside                                                               
from that, no additional policy decisions were made, she said.                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
[HB 4 was held over.]