Alaska Representative Gabrielle Ledoux (R-Anchorage) introduced HB 200 on March 29. It converts Alaska elections to top-two elections. The bill has a hearing on Monday, April 10, at 1 pm, in the House Judiciary Committee. The Committee will meet again on the bill on Wednesday, April 12, for a vote.
Here is the text of the bill.
The bill appears to provide for party labels on the ballots without any “prefers” verbiage, which means that if it passed as written, it would be vulnerable to a freedom of association challenge. The California and Washington top-two systems survived freedom of association challenges by providing that party labels on the ballot should be prefaced by the word “prefers” or “preference”, so as to make it clear that the parties did not nominate the listed candidates.
The bill makes it more difficult for groups to become and remain qualified parties. Currently Alaska lets a group become a qualified party if it polls 3% for a particular statewide race (the identity of the race varies each year, depending on which offices are up). But that would be deleted. The only way a group could become a qualified party would be with a registration drive. No party in Alaska has ever gained qualified status the first time via registration. The qualified parties in Alaska in the years since Alaska became a state all first gained party status by meeting the vote test. They include the Libertarian Party in 1982, the Alaskan Independence Party in 1982 (with the help of a court case), the Green Party in 1990, and the Republican Moderate Party in 1998.
The bill provides that an explanation on the ballot be given as to the meaning of a candidate’s party affiliation. Louisiana does not include “prefers” on its ballots. The Alaska bill also permits an affiliated candidate to run as nonpartisan or undeclared.
The bill does not make a distinction between political parties and political groups as far as a candidate’s affiliation. Under current law, candidates of political groups may appear on the general election ballot, but they must file a petition (the same as an independent candidates). So ballot access for candidates of the Green Party and Constitution Party will be substantially easier.
Alaska has provisions for limited parties for presidential elections.
HB 200 is a thinly veiled Republican maneuver to limit electoral participation.
Politicaly, the right (dems) and far right (reps) are not threatened by any critical thinking skills of their constituents. Simplify ballot access and allow for occasional intelligent dissent to at least be on the record of Alaska’s congressional history.
@William Bartee, don’t bother (Jim Riley) is a top two apologist
William Bartee,
HB 200 simplifies ballot access.