According to the unofficial results of ranked-choice voting that were published in the state of Alaska on Wednesday, Democrat Mary Peltola prevailed over former Alaska Governor and vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin in an Alaska special general election to take over former Rep. Don Young’s term in Congress. The election was held to fill the seat left vacant by Young after his death.
Ranked-choice voting was used in the special general election that was held on August 17 for the vacant seat in Alaska. Ranked-choice voting is a measure that was accepted by Alaska residents in 2020 that eliminated the previous election method that consisted of partisan elections ahead of general elections in the state of Alaska. All of the names of the candidates running in the special election were printed on the same ballot when the measure was passed.
Peltola, a former state senator, narrowly defeated Sarah Palin, a former governor of Alaska and the Republican vice presidential contender in 2008, in the final round of the vote count by a margin of three percentage points, 51.5% to 48.5%.
Democrat Mary Peltola has defeated Sarah Palin in Alaska’s House special election, NBC News projects. Peltola will make history as the first Alaska Native in Congress. https://t.co/JAEDX2bXPH pic.twitter.com/KjpHLAIc3q
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) September 1, 2022
Even though the special election in Alaska took place earlier this month, the tally of all the mail-in ballots and the determination of the winner using the state’s newly implemented ranked-choice voting method did not occur until Wednesday. A month to find out an election result is way too long if you ask me.
Fox News had more details to share about Alaska’s special election rules:
Ranked-choice voting allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference on their ballots. Should one candidate receive a majority of first-preference votes, that individual is declared the winner in the race. However, if no candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated. Following the elimination of the candidate who received the least amount of first-preference votes, voters’ second-preference choices are evaluated and a new tally is established to determine whether a candidate in the race has received a majority of the vote. That process is repeated until a candidate wins a majority of the vote.
The seat to represent Alaska’s at-large congressional district became vacant after Young, who held the seat for 49 years after winning a special election in 1973, passed away earlier this year.
If the election process has to be explained as Fox News just laid out then maybe it’s time to just get back to the basics of the winner takes all system. It’s not all over for Palin however. The special election just determined who will hold office for the next two months.
Republicans just gave away the state of Alaska. BREAKING: DEMOCRAT Peltola DEFEATS Republican Sarah Palin in Alaska Special Election — FIRST DEMOCRAT WIN IN 50 YEARS – THANKS TO RANK CHOICE VOTING AND MAIL-IN BALLOTS https://t.co/BZy3Zt5FIN
— Wendy Rogers (@WendyRogersAZ) September 1, 2022
Another midterm election will take place in November where Palin and Peltola will face off again. Even though Palin lost the special election, it’s suspected she will win the midterm due to fewer people being put on the ballot.
This story syndicated with permission from anthony, Author at Trending Politics
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