| Greg Orman | Real Clear Politics |
There is also the matter of whose system this is. Alaskans adopted open primaries and ranked-choice general elections by ballot initiative in 2020. In 2024, opponents put a repeal on the ballot, and voters narrowly kept the system. Alaskans have now chosen this method twice in four years. They have used it in statewide races, and they have shown they understand how to rank candidates.
”Unfair to its election officials
DOJ’s suit asks a federal judge to second-guess that choice before a single vote is counted. It presumes, without evidence, that Alaskans cannot tell their sitting senator from a sketchy long-shot challenger, even on a ballot that labels one of them “incumbent.” That is condescending to Alaska’s voters and unfair to its election officials.
If any system can absorb a ballot with two Dan Sullivans, it is the one Alaskans chose. While the Justice Department has filed numerous dubious election-related lawsuits, I’m willing to concede that a few intelligent people must still work there. They have to know that their case is fatally flawed legally, logically, and politically. Their only real intent, therefore, must be to highlight the potential for voter confusion to Alaska voters in an attempt to prevent the unlikely “lost vote” scenario outlined above.