Letters to the Editor

Letter: No ranked-choice voting

I believe that Ballot Measure 2 violates the civil rights of every Alaskan voter under the First Amendment to the Constitution. Every Alaska voter votes only for the candidate of their choice. Ballot Measure 2 would require voters to then vote for, or rank, three additional candidates the voter would never vote for, or potentially have their vote excluded from the vote count. Any changes to our current system of voting that allow the exclusion of a legally cast vote for the candidate of a voter’s choice, is a violation of our freedom of speech.

Of key importance, Ballot Measure 2 is primarily financed by Lower 48 groups that have invested nearly $7 million to have the right to manipulate our state at will, while ordinary Alaskan’s have raised less than $500,000 (including $100,000 from Outside interests) to prevent the “Vote Yes” sponsors from taking over our state. The sponsors of the ballot measure have included language that dark money by outside interests, such as themselves, will still be allowed as long as the money goes to ballot measures like Ballot Measure 2.

We are currently witnessing outside money trying to buy an election. A doctor with no political experience is running for the U.S. Senate using Outside money. He has never served a day in the U.S. military or held public office in Alaska. Every Alaskan he ever helped got a bill. He’s using dark money to buy the election for U.S. senator from a serving U.S. senator that is a public servant with 27-plus years government service, has been an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve since 1993, has served three combat tours in the Middle East, is a decorated war veteran, has held prominent state office and votes consistently for conservative ideals because he’s a conservative. This is not how Alaska’s future is supposed to be decided. Vote no on Ballot Measure 2.

Paul Torgerson

Anchorage

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