I don’t have hard data to back this up, but I get the feeling confusion about the Aug. 16 election is still widespread, even among savvy super voters and Alaskans who habitually vote early. 

For some of us, seeing a sample ballot clarified the muddle. 

The duality of this election is right there, on a single sheet: On one side, it’s a regular primary for governor, two federal races and the Legislature. The longest list of candidates is for Alaska’s U.S. House seat. 

“Vote for one candidate only,” the instructions at the top of the page say.

Flip that sheet over and it’s a special general election for U.S. House, with three names.

“Rank as many or as few candidates as you like,” the page instructs.

Bingo. Seeing the ballot can sweep away the cobwebs of confusion in an instant.

And yet, when ballots began to arrive in the mailboxes of voters who requested them, I got a new wave of questions, including from subscribers to this newsletter. 

Why are we voting twice for U.S. rep? What’s the relationship between the long list of congressional candidates and the short list? What if I want to vote for Santa Claus?

(Answers: We’ve got two elections underway. The short list shows the nominees for the remainder of the 2022 term. The long list is people running for the next full term. Santa lost the special primary. He didn’t file for the regular, not even as a write-in, so any vote for him won’t count.)

Confusion is natural but dangerous. It could deter people from voting. Losers of an election could also exploit it to cast doubt on the election results.

I’ve got nothing but respect for those of you asking questions. Truly. This is a complex set of circumstances – our first ranked choice election is a special general arriving on top of a “regular” primary that’s not the usual semi-closed partisan affair we’re used to.

Some of you are blaming the Division of Elections for the confusion. Others say the fault lies with Ballot Measure 2 from 2020, the voter-approved initiative that brought us this new system.

Change in how we vote is uncomfortable. It should be. Voting is fundamental to democracy. No citizen should be left behind. 

If you ask me, the person who made this complicated is Don Young. The congressman’s death in March produced a special election timeline that coincides with the regular election season. Believe me, he didn’t want it this way, either.

I urge everyone to look at a sample ballot. If you’ve got friends and neighbors who are confused, print this ballot, double-sided like the real one. Highlight the instructions at the top of each side. Wait for epiphany to strike. But brace for more confusion, too.

If you’ve got it sorted, you can vote now at dozens of locations around the state. You can also apply for a ballot to be mailed to you. The deadline to request a ballot is Saturday.

I tried to answer some frequently asked questions in this story. Did I miss yours? Let me know. As always, I welcome your emails.

- Liz Ruskin

lruskin@alaskapublic.org

Follow me on twitter: @lruskin

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