Elections Bill — and Ballot Initiatives: What’s hot this week.
April is off to a roaring start. The Elections bill is waiting the Governor’s signature. The legislature is focused on the budget (including funds for education and school maintenance), the PFD, and rising and falling oil prices. But they also had time for a few other items.
SB 64 — Alaska’s comprehensive election reform bill — passed the legislature on March 25 with bipartisan support and was transmitted to Governor Dunleavy on April 13. The governor has until April 30 to sign it, veto it, or allow it to become law without his signature. LWV Alaska supported this bill. If vetoed, a two-thirds majority of the full legislature — 40 of 60 members — would be needed to override. The bill passed with 39 combined votes, one short of that threshold. If you haven’t already emailed the Governor – you should! Keep up the pressure!
SB 23 – Civics Education, was heard on April 13 and passed unanimously.
HB 12 Free Breakfast & Lunch in Public Schools was also heard on April 13 and passed out of committee. Both bills move on to the House Finance Committee.
SB 278, Local Contributions by School Districts, a new bill addressing local school funding contributions was heard and held on April 8.
Alaska’s system for selecting and retaining judges is widely considered a national model. Established at the 1955 Constitutional Convention, the framers deliberately chose a “merit selection” approach — rejecting both partisan elections and purely political appointments. The result is the Alaska Judicial Council, a seven-member body balanced between three attorney members appointed by the Alaska Bar Association, three non-attorney public members appointed by the governor, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court serving as chair.
The council has faced repeated legislative attempts since 2013 to weaken its role and bypass its merit screening process — all have failed. Currently, one governor-appointed public member is pending confirmation before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. A council member who is not truly independent could shift judicial selections away from merit and toward political considerations — exactly what Alaska’s framers designed this system to prevent.
A confirmation hearing has not yet been scheduled before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. These committees review the appointment, accept public testimony, and make a recommendation — but the final decision rests with a majority vote of the full House and Senate sitting together in joint session, which must occur before the end of session. Alaskans who wish to weigh in should contact the Judiciary Committees and also contact their own legislators directly.
Read more about the candidate being proposed so you can be informed: Alaska Beacon article.
The LWV of Alaska has a position that supports this process of Judicial Selection. For more information on Alaska’s judicial selection process, visit Justice Not Politics Alaska and Alaskans for Fair Courts.
Legislative Hearing on Ballot Initiatives
On Thursday, April 16, at 3:30 p.m. in the Beltz room, the Senate State Affairs Committee and the House State Affairs Committee hosted a joint hearing on all election-related ballot initiatives that have been certified by the Division of Elections for the 2026 election cycle. Here’s a summary:
ID 25USCV — “An Act requiring that only United States citizens may be qualified to vote in Alaska elections.”
In Alaska, individuals registering to vote must affirm under penalty of perjury that they are U.S. citizens. The Alaska Constitution and current statute already limit voting to United States citizens, and this ballot measure does not change those requirements or how voting works in Alaska.
So why have an initiative that states the obvious? Supporters say that they want the current statute to state this clearly and unambiguously. However, placing this question on the ballot may lead voters to believe there is a current problem that needs to be addressed contributing to the fear that non-citizens are voting. This creates a challenge for clear public understanding, even though the legal effect of the measure is limited.
23RCF2 — An Act restoring campaign contribution limits for state and local elections in Alaska
Alaska had campaign contribution limits for most of its history as a state. In 2006, voters approved limits of $500 per year to candidates, political parties, and groups. Those limits were struck down in 2021 by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which found that the specific dollar amounts had become unconstitutionally low over time, in part because the law did not include a mechanism to adjust for inflation.
Since that ruling, Alaska has had no limits on campaign contributions. This initiative would restore contribution limits at updated levels and direct the Alaska Public Offices Commission to adjust them every ten years beginning in 2031.
The proposed limits are:
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Individuals: up to $2,000 per election cycle to a candidate; up to $5,000 per year to a political party
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Groups: up to $4,000 per election cycle to a candidate
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Governor/Lieutenant Governor joint campaigns: up to $4,000 per election cycle from individuals; $8,000 from group
These limits apply only to direct contributions to candidates and political parties.
24ESEG — An Act to repeal the open primary and ranked choice voting system adopted by voters in 2020.
This initiative would repeal Alaska’s current open primary and ranked choice voting system and return the state to partisan primaries and plurality voting.
Under the proposed initiative, political parties would return to holding separate primaries and would set their own rules for participation. Primary winners would advance to the general election, where the candidate with the most votes would win, even if they receive less than 50%.
The initiative would also repeal current campaign finance provisions, including requirements for disclosure of the original sources of certain political contributions, rapid reporting of large donations, and penalties for violations.
The League of Women Voters of Alaska opposes the initiative to repeal Open Primaries and Ranked Choice Voting. Alaska voters adopted our current system in 2020 and reaffirmed it in 2024. We supported those decisions then, and we support this system now because it gives more Alaskans a meaningful voice in their elections.
Open primaries give all voters an equal voice in who gets on the ballot. Every voter uses the same ballot regardless of party, and the top four candidates advance to the general election. You do not need to declare a party affiliation to vote!
Ranked choice voting ensures the winner has real support, counting second and third choices until one candidate reaches a majority. This prevents vote-splitting and the “spoiler” problem, means you can vote for the person you actually want without wasting your vote, and removes the need for costly separate runoff elections.
Campaign transparency requires groups spending money to influence elections to report where that money originally came from — not just the name of the group spending it.
Passing this initiative would take Alaska back to the system used before 2020:
Political parties would once again decide which candidates appear on the primary ballot and who is allowed to vote in those primaries. In many cases, voters would have to register with a party affiliation and would be limited to that party’s ballot — meaning they could not choose candidates across parties, and some candidates might not appear on their ballot at all.
In the general election, a candidate could win with well under 50% of the vote if similar candidates split the vote. That means someone can be elected even if most voters chose someone else. Ranked choice voting changes that. It allows voters to choose the candidate they truly want without worrying about wasting their vote. However, If their first choice doesn’t have enough support, their next choice is counted instead — so their vote still matters. In a traditional election, every ballot is effectively “exhausted” after one choice. Ranked choice voting actually gives voters more chances for their vote to count by allowing them to rank additional candidates.
It would also roll back current disclosure laws, making it harder — and sometimes impossible — to know who is actually paying for political ads. That means money can be routed through groups so voters can’t see who is really behind a campaign.
We value your input – Questions or feedback? Contact us at alaskalwv@alaskalwv.org.
LWV of Alaska is beginning their “Get out the Vote” efforts for this years’ midterms. Quick 30 second shorts are starting to appear on the LWVAK YouTube page. Check them out – and don’t forget to “like” and “subscribe” to the LWVAK YouTube page. The more they are viewed, the more people will see them. Find us here: https://www.youtube.com/@AlaskaLWV
Concerned with Civics Education? The LWV of Alaska and the LWV of Juneau have teamed up to provide a set of quick video classes for middle school students including lesson plans and videos. Called “Alaska Students – Capitol Visits.” Find out more information (with links) on our website at: https://alaskalwv.org/education/
Committee list & emails
Testimony instructions (PDF)
Start here