The Juneau Assembly is mulling over a plan to implement a ranked choice voting system for local elections beginning next year.
At a June 2 Committee of the Whole meeting, members unanimously forwarded an ordinance for public testimony and a vote on whether to implement the system.
Assembly member Ella Adkison proposed the ordinance. During a previous meeting, she said she thinks voters will support the change.
“I think that ranked choice voting, in this case, makes it a lot easier to build consensus in our community to fully express the nuances of every Juneauite’s vote,” she said.
Alaska uses a ranked choice voting system for statewide elections. It allows voters to rank candidates by preference in open primaries rather than partisan primaries. Proponents say the system helps tame hyperpolarized politics and promote a more inclusive election process. Pushback comes primarily from Alaska conservatives.
Voters approved the system in 2020 and used it for the first time in 2022. Alaska is one of only two states that use ranked choice voting. Meanwhile, 10 Republican-led states have banned it.
Juneau wouldn’t be the first municipality to adopt the system. Cities across the U.S., including New York, San Francisco and Minneapolis, already use ranked choice voting in local elections.
Assembly member Alicia Hughes-Skandijs said during the meeting that she supports the change, but wants to make sure there is enough opportunity for the public to weigh in. The city plans to do more public outreach before the Assembly’s final vote in late July.
“I love that we do ranked choice voting at the state. I love that we voted to keep it,” she said. “I don’t have a problem saying, ‘Yep, and this is how the state of Alaska votes, and this is how we vote locally, too.’”
According to data from the state’s Division of Elections, Juneau voters appear to favor ranked choice voting. Juneau overwhelmingly voted against a repeal effort on the ballot last election, which only very narrowly failed statewide. Advocates have already filed two new initiatives in an attempt to repeal it in the 2026 state election.
The next municipal election will not use a ranked choice voting system, even if members adopt the ordinance before then.