Count President Trump as the most recent Republican leader to come out against Alaska’s weird, completely undemocratic, and abused “ranked-choice” voting system.
President Donald Trump urged Alaska voters to eliminate ranked-choice voting during a campaign rally Tuesday, arguing that the state’s election system creates confusion and raising concerns about its impact on a closely contested U.S. Senate race.
Speaking to supporters in Wasilla, Trump called the voting system a “scam” and encouraged residents to support Ballot Measure 2 in the November 3 election. The proposal would repeal Alaska’s open primary and ranked-choice general election systems, restoring traditional partisan primaries and elections in which voters select a single candidate.
Trump made the remarks while campaigning for Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, who is seeking a third term against former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola. “You want to repeal ranked choice voting scam. It’s a scam,” Trump told the crowd. “You go in number one, you come out number two, number three. Nobody knows what they’re doing back there.”
The president also alleged that the system allows election manipulation, although he did not present evidence of widespread fraud. “All it is is a way to cheat,” Trump said. Alaska adopted ranked-choice voting after voters approved a ballot initiative in 2020 without really understanding what a mess they were getting into.
Under the current system, candidates from all political parties compete in a single primary, with the four highest vote-getters advancing to the general election. Voters then rank candidates according to preference. If no candidate receives a majority of first-choice votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and those ballots are redistributed according to voters’ next available preferences.
The process continues until a candidate secures a majority of the remaining votes. Supporters argue that the system gives voters more choices and reduces the influence of partisan primaries. Opponents contend that it makes elections unnecessarily complicated and can produce results that differ from the candidate a majority of Alaskans really want.
Alaskans narrowly rejected a previous attempt to repeal the system in 2024. This year’s Ballot Measure 2 would also restore partisan primary elections and change campaign finance disclosure requirements established under the 2020 initiative. The proposed changes would apply to future elections rather than the Senate contest already underway.
It’s clear: Ranked-choice voting is just a way for underdogs to game the system and sideline candidates most voters actually want. No wonder Democrats in red states love it so much.
