Dear Editor: As a lifelong Alaskan, I have devoted my career to studying and teaching about Alaska history and government. Our current election system is the most recent in a long history of our state taking initiative to create solutions that work for us, instead of waiting for permission or guidance from the Lower 48. I am writing today about why we should all vote no on Ballot Measure 2.
Our current election system was born from a place of frustration and impatience. Like most of the country, Alaska struggled with intense polarization and partisanship often resulting in legislative gridlock. With a closed primary system, our candidates were generally selected in August by a fraction of the population, encouraging extremist fringe candidates on both sides instead of moderate candidates with practical policy platforms. In 2019, this polarization reached a crescendo when a leadership standoff left the state House in a deadlock for over a month, the longest in Alaska’s history, with lawmakers physically split between Juneau and Wasilla. There was a flaw in the system, and the cracks were evident.
While gridlock and hyper-partisanship remain a familiar story in statehouses across the country, in classic Alaska fashion, we decided to write our own story. Instead of pointing fingers, we implemented a practical solution addressing the roots of the problem namely: hyper partisanship and secret political spending. We opened our primaries, moving the decisive election to November, when more Alaskans vote. We implemented true-source campaign finance disclosure laws that require all political groups to disclose their actual funders, not just an anonymous nonprofit's name. We created a system that works for us instead of continuing to abide by a system designed to serve the Lower 48 political parties.
Better yet, our system WORKS. Since 2022 when the system was first implemented, winning candidates are more likely to be moderates who build coalitions across party lines. This is not because fewer extreme candidates ran, but because the system itself rewards broader appeal over a narrow base. Our election system does not favor either party, it favors moderation and compromise, two factors that lead to sustainable progress. Under our current system, lawmakers have worked across party lines to prioritize fiscal growth and infrastructure investment. Without needing to cater to party orthodoxy, our elected officials can focus on actually representing our interests instead of performative partisanship.
In November, if we don’t reject Ballot Measure 2, this progress will stall and we will return to the days where our government was too busy fighting itself to actually legislate. I will be voting NO on ballot measure 2 and I encourage everyone reading this to do the same.
Howard Wayne, Sitka
