Alaska 2025-2026 Regular Session

Alaska Senate Bill SB179 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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2	2	SB0179A -1- SB 179
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5	5	34-LS0767\A
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11	11	SENATE BILL NO. 179
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13	13	IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA
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15	15	THIRTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE - FIRST SESSION
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17	17	BY THE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
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19	19	Introduced: 4/22/25
20	20	Referred: State Affairs, Community and Regional Affairs
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22	22
23	23	A BILL
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25	25	FOR AN ACT ENTITLED
26	26
27	27	"An Act relating to ranked-choice voting; and reducing the number of candidates in a 1
28	28	general election from four to three." 2
29	29	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 3
30	30	* Section 1. AS 15.15.030 is amended to read: 4
31	31	Sec. 15.15.030. Preparation of official ballot. The director shall prepare all 5
32	32	official ballots to facilitate fairness, simplicity, and clarity in the voting procedure, to 6
33	33	reflect most accurately the intent of the voter, and to expedite the administration of 7
34	34	elections. The following directives shall be followed when applicable: 8
35	35	(1) The director shall determine the size of the ballot, the type of print, 9
36	36	necessary additional instruction notes to voters, and other similar matters of form not 10
37	37	provided by law. 11
38	38	(2) The director shall number ballots in series to ensure simplicity and 12
39	39	secrecy and to prevent fraud. 13
40	40	(3) The director shall contract for the preparation of ballots under 14 34-LS0767\A
41	41	SB 179 -2- SB0179A
42	42	New Text Underlined [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED]
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44	44	AS 36.30 (State Procurement Code). 1
45	45	(4) The director may not include on the ballot, as a part of a candidate's 2
46	46	name, any honorary or assumed title or prefix but may include in the candidate's name 3
47	47	any nickname or familiar form of a proper name of the candidate. 4
48	48	(5) The names of the candidates shall be placed in separate sections on 5
49	49	the state general election ballot under the office designation to which they were 6
50	50	nominated. If a candidate is registered as affiliated with a political party or political 7
51	51	group, the party affiliation, if any, may be designated after the name of the candidate, 8
52	52	upon request of the candidate. If a candidate has requested designation as nonpartisan 9
53	53	or undeclared, that designation shall be placed after the name of the candidate. If a 10
54	54	candidate is not registered as affiliated with a political party or political group and has 11
55	55	not requested to be designated as nonpartisan or undeclared, the candidate shall be 12
56	56	designated as undeclared. The lieutenant governor and the governor shall be included 13
57	57	under the same section. Provision shall be made for voting for write-in candidates 14
58	58	within each section. Paper ballots for the state general election shall be printed on 15
59	59	white paper. 16
60	60	(6) The names of the candidates for each office shall be set out in the 17
61	61	same order on ballots printed for use in each house district. The director shall 18
62	62	randomly determine the order of the names of the candidates for state representative 19
63	63	for each house district. The director shall rotate the order of placement of the names of 20
64	64	candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, United States senator, United States 21
65	65	representative, and state senator on the ballot for each house district. 22
66	66	(7) The general election ballot shall be designed with the names of 23
67	67	candidates of each political party, and of any independent candidates qualified under 24
68	68	AS 15.30.026, for the office of President and Vice-President of the United States 25
69	69	placed in the same section on the ballot rather than the names of electors of President 26
70	70	and Vice-President. 27
71	71	(8) The general or special election ballot shall be designed with the 28
72	72	title and proposition for any initiative, referendum, or constitutional amendment 29
73	73	formulated as prescribed by law and placed on the ballot in the manner prescribed by 30
74	74	the director. When placed on the ballot, a state ballot proposition or ballot question
75	75	31 34-LS0767\A
76	76	SB0179A -3- SB 179
77	77	New Text Underlined [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED]
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79	79	shall carry the number that was assigned to the petition for the proposition or question. 1
80	80	Provision shall be made for marking the proposition "Yes" or "No." 2
81	81	(9) The general or special election ballot shall be designed with the 3
82	82	question of whether a constitutional convention shall be called placed on the ballot in 4
83	83	the following manner: "Shall there be a constitutional convention?" Provision shall be 5
84	84	made for marking the question "Yes" or "No." 6
85	85	(10) A nonpartisan ballot shall be designed for each judicial district in 7
86	86	which a justice or judge is seeking retention in office. The ballot shall be divided into 8
87	87	four parts. Each part must bear a heading indicating the court to which the candidate is 9
88	88	seeking approval, and provision shall be made for marking each question "Yes" or 10
89	89	"No." Within each part, the question of whether the justice or judge shall be approved 11
90	90	or rejected shall be set out in substantially the following manner: 12
91	91	(A) "Shall . . . . . . . be retained as justice of the supreme court 13
92	92	for 10 years?"; 14
93	93	(B) "Shall . . . . . . . be retained as judge of the court of appeals 15
94	94	for eight years?"; 16
95	95	(C) "Shall . . . . . . . be retained as judge of the superior court 17
96	96	for six years?"; or 18
97	97	(D) "Shall . . . . . . . be retained as judge of the district court for 19
98	98	four years?" 20
99	99	(11) When the legislature by law authorizes a state debt for capital 21
100	100	improvements, the director shall place the question of whether the specific 22
101	101	authorization shall be ratified by placing the ballot title and question on the next 23
102	102	general election ballot, or on the special election ballot if a special election is held for 24
103	103	the purpose of ratifying the state debt for capital improvements before the time of the 25
104	104	next general election. Unless specifically provided otherwise in the Act authorizing 26
105	105	the debt, the ballot title shall, by the use of a few words in a succinct manner, indicate 27
106	106	the general subject of the Act. The question shall, by the use of a few sentences in a 28
107	107	succinct manner, give a true and impartial summary of the Act authorizing the state 29
108	108	debt. The question of whether state debt shall be contracted shall be assigned a letter 30
109	109	of the alphabet on the ballot. Provision shall be made for marking the question 31 34-LS0767\A
110	110	SB 179 -4- SB0179A
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113	113	substantially as follows: 1
114	114	"Bonds. . . . . . . Yes" or "Bonds. . . . . . . No," 2
115	115	followed by an appropriate oval. 3
116	116	(12) The director may provide for the optical scanning of ballots where 4
117	117	the requisite equipment is available. 5
118	118	(13) The director may provide for voting by use of electronically 6
119	119	generated ballots by a voter who requests to use a machine that produces electronically 7
120	120	generated ballots. 8
121	121	(14) The director shall include the following statement on the ballot: 9
122	122	A candidate's designated affiliation does not imply that the 10
123	123	candidate is nominated or endorsed by the political party or group or 11
124	124	that the party or group approves of or associates with that candidate, 12
125	125	but only that the candidate is registered as affiliated with the political 13
126	126	party or political group. 14
127	127	(15) Instead of the statement provided by (14) of this section, when 15
128	128	candidates for President and Vice-President of the United States appear on a general 16
129	129	election ballot, the director shall include the following statement on the ballot: 17
130	130	A candidate's designated affiliation does not imply that the 18
131	131	candidate is nominated or endorsed by the political party or political 19
132	132	group or that the political party or political group approves of or 20
133	133	associates with that candidate, but only that the candidate is registered 21
134	134	as affiliated with the party or group. The election for President and 22
135	135	Vice-President of the United States is different. Some candidates for 23
136	136	President and Vice-President are the official nominees of their political 24
137	137	party. 25
138	138	(16) The director shall design the general election ballots so that the 26
139	139	candidates are selected by ranked-choice voting. 27
140	140	(17) The director shall design the general election ballot to direct the 28
141	141	voter to mark up to two candidates in order of preference [AND TO MARK AS 29
142	142	MANY CHOICES AS THE VOTER WISHES], but not to assign the same ranking to 30
143	143	more than one candidate for the same office. 31 34-LS0767\A
144	144	SB0179A -5- SB 179
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147	147	* Sec. 2. AS 15.15.350(e) is amended to read: 1
148	148	(e) When counting general election ballots, 2
149	149	(1) a ballot containing an overvote shall be considered an inactive 3
150	150	ballot once the overvote is encountered at the highest ranking for a continuing 4
151	151	candidate; 5
152	152	(2) if a ballot skips a ranking, then the election board shall count the 6
153	153	next ranking [. IF THE NEXT RANKING IS ANOTHER SKIPPED RANKING, THE 7
154	154	BALLOT SHALL BE CONSIDERED AN INACTIVE BALLOT ONCE THE 8
155	155	SECOND SKIPPED RANKING IS ENCOUNTERED]; and 9
156	156	(3) in the event of a tie between the final two continuing candidates, 10
157	157	the procedures in AS 15.15.460 and AS 15.20.430 - 15.20.530 shall apply to 11
158	158	determine the winner of the general election; in the event of a tie between two 12
159	159	candidates with the fewest votes, the tie shall be resolved by lot to determine which 13
160	160	candidate is defeated. 14
161	161	* Sec. 3. AS 15.25.010 is amended to read: 15
162	162	Sec. 15.25.010. Provision for primary election. Candidates for the elective 16
163	163	state executive and state and national legislative offices shall be nominated in a 17
164	164	primary election by direct vote of the people in the manner prescribed by this chapter. 18
165	165	The primary election does not serve to determine the nominee of a political party or 19
166	166	political group but serves only to narrow the number of candidates whose names will 20
167	167	appear on the ballot at the general election. Except as provided in AS 15.25.100(d), 21
168	168	only the three [FOUR] candidates who receive the greatest number of votes for any 22
169	169	office shall advance to the general election. 23
170	170	* Sec. 4. AS 15.25.100(a) is amended to read: 24
171	171	(a) Except as provided in (b) - (g) of this section, of the names of candidates 25
172	172	that appear on the primary election ballot under AS 15.25.010, the director shall place 26
173	173	on the general election ballot only the names of the three [FOUR] candidates 27
174	174	receiving the greatest number of votes for an office. For purposes of this subsection 28
175	175	and (b) of this section, candidates for lieutenant governor and governor are treated as a 29
176	176	single paired unit. 30
177	177	* Sec. 5. AS 15.25.100(b) is amended to read: 31 34-LS0767\A
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181	181	(b) If two candidates tie in having the third [FOURTH] greatest number of 1
182	182	votes for an office in the primary election, the director shall determine under (g) of 2
183	183	this section which candidate's name shall appear on the general election ballot. 3
184	184	* Sec. 6. AS 15.25.100(c) is amended to read: 4
185	185	(c) Except as otherwise provided in (d) of this section, if a candidate 5
186	186	nominated at the primary election dies, withdraws, resigns, becomes disqualified from 6
187	187	holding office for which the candidate is nominated, or is certified as being 7
188	188	incapacitated in the manner prescribed by this section after the primary election and 64 8
189	189	or more days before the general election, the vacancy shall be filled by the director by 9
190	190	replacing the withdrawn candidate with the candidate who received the fourth 10
191	191	[FIFTH] most votes in the primary election. 11
192	192	* Sec. 7. AS 15.58.020(a) is amended to read: 12
193	193	(a) Each general election pamphlet must contain 13
194	194	(1) photographs and campaign statements submitted by eligible 14
195	195	candidates for elective office in the region; 15
196	196	(2) information and recommendations filed under AS 15.58.050 on 16
197	197	judicial officers subject to a retention election in the region; 17
198	198	(3) a map of the house district or districts of the region; 18
199	199	(4) sample ballots for house districts of the region; 19
200	200	(5) an absentee ballot application; 20
201	201	(6) for each ballot proposition submitted to the voters by initiative or 21
202	202	referendum petition or by the legislature, 22
203	203	(A) the full text of the proposition specifying constitutional or 23
204	204	statutory provisions proposed to be affected; 24
205	205	(B) the ballot title and the summary of the proposition prepared 25
206	206	by the director or by the lieutenant governor; 26
207	207	(C) a statement of the costs to the state of implementing the law 27
208	208	proposed in an initiative, or of voter approval or rejection of the act that is the 28
209	209	subject of a referendum; 29
210	210	(D) a neutral summary of the proposition prepared by the 30
211	211	Legislative Affairs Agency; 31 34-LS0767\A
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215	215	(E) statements submitted that advocate voter approval or 1
216	216	rejection of the proposition not to exceed 500 words; 2
217	217	(7) for each bond question, a statement of the scope of each project as 3
218	218	it appears in the bond authorization; 4
219	219	(8) a maximum of two pages of material submitted under 5
220	220	AS 15.58.040 by each political party; 6
221	221	(9) additional information on voting procedures that the lieutenant 7
222	222	governor considers necessary; 8
223	223	(10) for the question whether a constitutional convention shall be 9
224	224	called, 10
225	225	(A) a full statement of the question placed on the ballot; 11
226	226	(B) statements not to exceed 500 words that advocate voter 12
227	227	approval or rejection of the question; 13
228	228	(11) under AS 37.13.170, the Alaska permanent fund annual income 14
229	229	statement and balance sheet for the two fiscal years preceding the publication of the 15
230	230	election pamphlet; 16
231	231	(12) under AS 15.10.090, notice of 17
232	232	(A) the establishment or abolition of a precinct; 18
233	233	(B) the designation, abolition, or modification of precinct 19
234	234	boundaries; and 20
235	235	(C) a change in the location of a polling place; 21
236	236	(13) the following statement written in bold in a conspicuous location: 22
237	237	Each candidate may designate the political party or political 23
238	238	group that the candidate is registered as affiliated with. A candidate's 24
239	239	political party or political group designation on a ballot does not imply 25
240	240	that the candidate is nominated or endorsed by the party or political 26
241	241	group or that the party or group approves of or associates with that 27
242	242	candidate. 28
243	243	In each race, you may vote for any candidate listed. If a primary 29
244	244	election was held for a state office, United States senator, or United 30
245	245	States representative, the three [FOUR] candidates who received the 31 34-LS0767\A
246	246	SB 179 -8- SB0179A
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249	249	most votes for the office in the primary election advanced to the 1
250	250	general election. However, if one of the three [FOUR] candidates who 2
251	251	received the most votes for an office at the primary election died, 3
252	252	withdrew, resigned, was disqualified, or was certified as incapacitated 4
253	253	64 days or more before the general election, the candidate who received 5
254	254	the fourth [FIFTH] most votes for the office advanced to the general 6
255	255	election. 7
256	256	At the general election, each candidate will be selected through 8
257	257	a ranked-choice voting process and the candidate with the greatest 9
258	258	number of votes will be elected. For a general election, you must rank 10
259	259	the candidates in the numerical order of your preference, ranking up to 11
260	260	two [AS MANY] candidates [AS YOU WISH]. Your second [, 12
261	261	THIRD, AND SUBSEQUENT] ranked choice [CHOICES] will be 13
262	262	counted only if the candidate you ranked first does not receive enough 14
263	263	votes to continue on to the next round of counting, so ranking a second 15
264	264	[, THIRD, OR SUBSEQUENT CHOICE] will not hurt your first-16
265	265	choice candidate. Your ballot will be counted regardless of whether you 17
266	266	choose to rank one or [,] two [, OR MORE] candidates for each office, 18
267	267	but it will not be counted if you assign the same ranking to more than 19
268	268	one candidate for the same office. 20
269	269	* Sec. 8. AS 15.58.020(c) is amended to read: 21
270	270	(c) Notwithstanding (a) of this section, if a pamphlet is prepared and published 22
271	271	under AS 15.58.010 for a 23
272	272	(1) primary election, the pamphlet must contain the following 24
273	273	statement written in bold in a conspicuous location, instead of the statement provided 25
274	274	by (a)(13) of this section: 26
275	275	In each race, you may vote for any candidate listed. The three 27
276	276	[FOUR] candidates who receive the most votes for a state office, 28
277	277	United States senator, or United States representative will advance to 29
278	278	the general election. However, if, after the primary election and 64 days 30
279	279	or more before the general election, one of the three [FOUR] 31 34-LS0767\A
280	280	SB0179A -9- SB 179
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283	283	candidates who received the most votes for an office at the primary 1
284	284	election dies, withdraws, resigns, is disqualified, or is certified as 2
285	285	incapacitated, the candidate who received the fourth [FIFTH] most 3
286	286	votes for the office will advance to the general election. 4
287	287	Each candidate may designate the political party or political group that the candidate is 5
288	288	registered as affiliated with. A candidate's political party or political group designation on a 6
289	289	ballot does not imply that the candidate is nominated or endorsed by the party or group or that 7
290	290	the party or group approves of or associates with that candidate; 8
291	291	(2) special primary election, the pamphlet must contain the following 9
292	292	statement written in bold in a conspicuous location, instead of the statement provided 10
293	293	by (a)(13) of this section: 11
294	294	In each race, you may vote for any candidate listed. The three 12
295	295	[FOUR] candidates who receive the most votes for a state office or 13
296	296	United States senator will advance to the special election. However, if, 14
297	297	after the special primary election and 64 days or more before the 15
298	298	special election, one of the three [FOUR] candidates who received the 16
299	299	most votes for a state office or United States senator at the primary 17
300	300	election dies, withdraws, resigns, is disqualified, or is certified as 18
301	301	incapacitated, the candidate who received the fourth [FIFTH] most 19
302	302	votes for the office will advance to the general election. Each candidate 20
303	303	may designate the political party or political group that the candidate is 21
304	304	registered as affiliated with. A candidate's political party or political 22
305	305	group designation on a ballot does not imply that the candidate is 23
306	306	nominated or endorsed by the party or group or that the party or group 24
307	307	approves of or associates with that candidate. 25