Public hearing planned for voter initiatives in Alaska

A ballot box containing absentee ballots dropped off at Anchorage City Hall is seen on Aug. 19, 2024. (Andrew Kitchenman/Alaska Beacon)

By Haley Lehman

Alaska Beacon

The Alaska Legislature will hold a public hearing Thursday afternoon on election-related ballot initiatives. The Division of Elections certified three ballot initiatives that will be on Alaskans’ ballots in November. 

State law requires the legislature to hold at least two public hearings on each certified ballot measure.

The sponsors of all three ballot measures and a group supporting Alaska’s current voting system are scheduled to testify.

The hearing will begin at 3:30 p.m. Thursday. The hearing will be streamed online at akl.tv and ktoo.org/gavel/.

The first ballot measure, 23RCF2, seeks to increase limits on campaign contributions to campaigns for state and local offices. 

If passed, individuals would be able to donate $2,000 to candidates and $5,000 to political parties. Groups that are not political parties could give $4,000 to candidates and $5,000 to another group or political party.

Individuals could also give $4,000 to joint campaigns for governor and lieutenant governor, and groups could give $8,000. Campaign contribution limits would increase with inflation every 10 years starting in 2031. 

This ballot measure was sponsored by former Alaska attorney general and former Juneau Mayor Bruce Botelho, Trail Breaker Kennel owner David Monson and Representative Calvin Schrage, I-Anchorage.

The second ballot measure, 24ESEG, primarily aims to repeal the state’s open top four primary election system and ranked-choice general election system. It would bring back political party primaries and single-choice general elections. The ballot measure seeks to reverse the changes to Alaska’s election system made by Ballot Measure 2, which narrowly passed in 2020.

The ballot initiative also seeks to make changes to the poll watcher statute, reinstate requirements for certain appointees to the Alaska Public Offices Commission, repeal campaign contribution rules that were passed in 2020, remove the requirement for the paid-for-by disclaimers in communications, remove disclosure requirements relating to dark money, remove fines for certain disclosure violations and bring back party petitions and special runoff elections.

This ballot measure was sponsored by former Anchorage Republican Representative Ken McCarty, former Anchorage Public Library deputy director Judy Eledge and Republican gubernatorial candidate Bernadette Wilson.

A group supporting Alaska’s current voting system, Protect Alaska’s Elections, is scheduled to voice its opposition to the appeal of ranked choice voting. According to the group’s registration with the Alaska Public Offices Commission, Protect Alaska’s Elections aims “to defend dark money disclosure, open primaries, and ranked choice voting from repeal.”

The third ballot initiative, 25USCV, would require that only United States citizens may be qualified to vote in Alaska elections. The Alaska Constitution and current statute state that only United States citizens may vote in Alaska’s elections and this ballot measure would not change the requirements to vote.

This ballot measure was sponsored by former Fairbanks Republican Senator John B. Coghill Jr., former Nikiski Republican Representative Charles Michael Chenault and former Anchorage Republican Senator Joshua Revak.

• Haley Lehman graduated from James Madison University and reported for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.