By Aiden Bennett
The United States’ election has been a reality show-esque affair, with the series’ finale culminating in a convincing victory for Donald Trump. A man described by some as divisive and controversial, which is a perfect descriptor for the current landscape of federal politics in the land of the free. As per Pew Research Center, Congressional Democrats and Republicans are further apart than ever, which could explain a new poll showing that 45% of voters do not believe that American democracy does a good job of representing the people. In light of this worrisome state of American politics, one must not look further than the Last Frontier for a cure to this ailment.
Representative Preference
Alaska is one of two states in America to employ rank choice voting, with the system in Alaska working as follows. All candidates, regardless if they are a candidate of one of the two major parties or not, are put on one ballot for a primary election and voted on by the general voter. The four candidates with the most votes move on to the general election. In this general election, voters can rank their choice of candidates in order of preference. The first-choice votes are initially counted. If no candidate reaches over the 50% +1 minimum threshold, then the candidate with the least amount of first-choice votes gets eliminated and the second-choice votes get counted and so on, until one candidate reaches over the minimum threshold.
This system breaks the curse of the divisive two party system, as the choice of voters is no longer limited to only two sides. Seeing as general elections can contain multiple candidates from the same party, voters can make their decision based on the individual candidates’ ability and ideology rather than based on party identity. The effect of which is amplified in America, since the Democratic and Republican parties are both big tent parties, with varying warring factions and sub-ideologies within them. Additionally, Alaska is the only state in the Union which has no petition process for candidates to get on the ballot for the state legislature. This gives independent candidates and minor parties a higher competitive chance in these elections. Couple this with rank choice voting and Alaskans have a lesser chance of feeling as if their vote is “wasted” on a candidate not from the two major parties. Since they don’t have to vote for the lesser evil to prevent a greater evil from gaining office. This sentiment is especially relevant since the two major candidates from this past presidential election were historically unpopular, yet the two candidates received a combined 98.4% of the popular vote.
An important side-note, however, is that in Alaska this unique system only applies to federal and state elections for the House of Representatives and the Senate and not for the presidency. The presidential elections are still decided through closed primaries, meaning that parties get to decide internally who gets on the general ballot. However, voters can still rank their preference for candidates in this general election.
The Alaskan system also offers more competitive races. This is needed, seeing that 40.8% of all state legislative races in 2022 had only one of the two major parties put a candidate on the general ballot, meaning these elections essentially went uncontested. While in Alaska the number of uncontested state legislative elections was cut in half to 12%, after introducing the new electoral system.
In uncontested races, the elections are basically decided in the primaries, which consist of a significantly smaller and often less representative voting group. Yet there is still a problem within contested races, since candidates that appeal to their party voters get to the general election and those that may have been more popular among the general electorate get put to the waist side. Running open primaries, as Alaska does, solves this issue.
A Slice of Europe in the USA
When those living outside of Alaska think about coalitions, they most likely think of European-style multi-party systems, not the dominant two-party system present in the United States. Yet it does exist both in the Alaska Senate and the Alaskan House. The Alaska Senate has twenty total members, nine of which are Democrats and eleven of which are Republican. The current coalition is made up of all nine democrats and eight of the republicans, with three far-right Republicans being in the minority. In the House of Representatives there has been a multiparty coalition since 2016; with one expected to form after this election. This is a stark contrast to what we have seen in the increasingly polarized federal Congress.
A benefit of having open primaries is that it has emboldened moderate Republicans, who reached across the aisle in the Alaskan Senate. By not letting hardline conservatives with less broad based beliefs, in closed primaries, dictate the candidate for the general election, but letting the general electorate decide for them themselves. Therefore Republicans and Democrats alike are less afraid of being voted out by the partisan primary voter if they reach across the aisle.
This coalition mentality is really seen in the discussion around Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend or PFD, which is a fund that primarily gets its revenue from oil and cuts an annual check that every Alaskan. Far-right Republicans and the Republican Alaskan Governor wanted to enforce a sales tax (which Alaska does not have) to keep the PFD payout at the full amount. While Democratic and moderate Republican legislators wanted to take money from the PFD for government services, and not impose a sales tax, however it would mean a decrease in the PFD payout.
In short, the moderate Republicans put their beliefs and ideology above their party politics. This is a stark contrast to the federal House Republicans who pulled support from a bi-partisan border deal, allegedly, due to mounting pressure from Donald Trump. A worsening condition at the border would give Trump more political ammunition heading into the election but at the expense of political compromise. In the Alaskan system, the story might have unfolded differently
The Alaskan Spirit
In a state like Alaska that has had two governors serve two terms as independents, it should not come to a surprise that compromise is a key component of Alaskan politics. As in the Last Frontier the unique Alaskan Spirit lives, compressing both a strong independent or libertarian streak and culture of mutual survival. This makes Alaskans both more open to new ideas, like rank choice voting, and willing to compromise and work together.
It is this Alaskan Spirit that the rest of America needs. To come together and solve issues, based on beliefs and ideology and not on party politics. To hold more competitive, fair, and representative elections. To be the hegemon which leads by example. Luckily for Americans, they can look at their Last Frontier to find a New Frontier for their democracy.
Photo by Roselyn Tirado via unsplash.
