I’ve returned to Sally’s side in Vermont, have been helping her navigate our health care system, and am catching up the household chores I neglected while I was gone. We’re managing, but we have some challenging times ahead, not unlike our country.
Before I left Arizona, I wrote the script for a podcast, which I’ve just recorded. It’s not
really a podcast; it’s more of a letter to our newly-elected representatives, admonishing them to not follow the legislate-as-usual pattern, but instead, start a real conversation on democracy reforms like open primaries, ranked choice voting, and small-donor funded elections.
For the first time earlier this year, we heard our allies in Washington talk about the Freedom to Vote Act. Voters of all persuasions want reform, so this conversation MUST continue in 2023 and our elected representatives MUST speak out supporting reform to their colleagues and to the press.
More podcasts will be coming in the next few weeks, so make sure you bookmark podcasting page at SimpleCast, and sign up for the RSS feed if you wish.
Celebrating Alaska’s Statewide Open Primary & RCV Debuts
One of the states which has moved forward with reform is Alaska, which implemented single ballot open primaries
and ranked choice voting after a 2020 referendum. Like many states,
voters are out in front of their elected representatives, and beginning with a special election in August 2022, Alaska used a “top four” format and statewide ranked choice voting for the first time. And guess what: After political party leaders said it wouldn’t work, not only was it successful, but voters liked it, too.
The Alaska Beacon reports that for the August special election, the state and advocacy groups did an excellent job in educating voters on how to vote using RCV, with 95% of voters having received instructions, and 85% indicating it was easy to vote by RCV. State election official said only 295 “overvotes” statewide did not count toward one of the candidates in the special election.
Now fast forward to November, where RCV was used for its first general election, which included Democrat Mary Pertola, Republicans Sarah Palin & Nick Begich, and Libertarian, Chris Bye. Again, there were only 496 overvotes for the entire state. Pertola was the top vote-getter, but at 48.66%, failed to reach the 50% threshold to win outright. Two additional RCV rounds eliminated the candidates with the lowest totals, Begich & Bye, and after recalculating, Pertola was declared the winner over Palin, 54.96% to 45.04%. (See the official details of each round HERE)
“After weeks of collecting ballots from across the Last Frontier, Alaska is set to send Republican Lisa Murkowski and Democrat Mary Peltola back to Congress. This November marked the first general
election using Alaska’s “top four” format, and it’s already making good on its promise to create a healthier political culture. Candidates on both sides recognized the need to look beyond their base for support, and the winners for federal office succeeded by mobilizing the broadest coalitions.” — The Dispatch
A national party figure made outlandish claims about the RCV election, but PolitiFact noted that Alaska’s system worked as advertised. Alaska voters showed that these reforms are not only good for the voters, they’re good for our democracy: First, the single ballot open primary system makes it harder for extremists to make it to the general election because candidates must appeal to a wider spectrum of voters, instead of having to only appeal to the 10% of party zealots who show up at a typical primary. Second, it insures that whomever wins – no matter what party or how many candidates are running – has a majority. Third, it builds coalitions between candidates; if your party wants to win, your candidates need to be nicer to one another – you may need their support later.
Congratulations to the citizens of Alaska, and to Alaskans for Better Elections for leading the way!
Thank You for Your Love & Support
Since I announced the indefinite pause of my walk, many of you have written or called with your words of encouragement for Sally and me. It means the world to us, and I want to say thank you for everything. And thanks for doing everything you can to advance our reforms in the upcoming year!
A happy, healthy and prosperous New Year to you!
Rick
MORE Actions you can take to help:
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Walking To Fix Our Democracy website link – www.fixourdemocracy.us
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Link to Google map of Rick’s walking route and events along the way – https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/1/edit?mid=1dIJb703Ot2TpEuzUBckytwfKwYq9jps&usp=sharing
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Organize Walks To Fix Our Democracy in Your Own Community – Dates, Guidelines and Resources for National Walks in Communities Across the U.S. are at: https://www.fixourdemocracy.us/national-walks
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Link to many fixes for our democracy – https://www.fixourdemocracy.us/fixes
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Volunteer – https://www.fixourdemocracy.us/volunteer2
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Follow Walking to Fix Our Democracy on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/Walkingtofixourdemocracy/
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Share Rick’s messages on your favorite social media platform!
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