2020 Alaska Measure 2


Alaska Measure 2 was a ballot initiative narrowly approved by voters in Alaska as part of the 2020 United States elections. The proposal switched Alaska's primary system to a non-partisan blanket primary. The top four candidates progress to the general election, which is conducted with ranked-choice voting. Voting for U.S. president will continue to utilize primaries based on political party, but ranked-choice voting will still be used in the general election. The initiative also requires additional disclosures of campaign financing.
In 2024, another Alaska Ballot Measure 2 was voted on by citizens as to whether to repeal this system and return to partisan primaries and plurality voting. The effort to repeal failed by an even narrower margin.

Background

The campaign for Alaska Measure 2 followed on political activist groups seeking to change the electoral rules in Alaska. Throughout the campaign a high volume of campaign funding came from sources outside Alaska. At the end of the campaign, the overwhelming majority of the money spent in the race was spent by groups in favor of the measure. In 2020 a high percentage of Alaskans identified as political independents.

Contents

The proposal appeared on the ballot as follows:

Results

The proposal was narrowly approved, with 50.55% of the vote.