Opinion: Modernize Alaska's vote count
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
Two former Alaska election officials wrote that ranked choice voting does not extend the state's vote-counting timeline.
They propose four fixes, as Alaskans wait weeks for Senate and governor results.
Background
Gail Fenumiai is retired after 22 years in Alaska elections, 11 of them as director of the Alaska Division of Elections; Jeremy Johnson was a regional election supervisor for six years and advised Alaska municipal governments for nine. In an opinion piece, they argue that ranked choice voting (a system where voters rank candidates and lower choices are transferred if no one wins outright) is not to blame for slow Alaska results. Under Alaska law, absentee ballots mailed in can arrive up to 15 days after Election Day, results come out on days seven, 10 and 15, and absentee and questioned ballots cannot be scanned before 8 p.m. on Election Day. The piece ran as Alaskans waited on the U.S. Senate race and the open governor's race, both of which could go to ranked tabulations.
How it unfolded
- Aug 26, 2026A Wednesday morning update added roughly 8,700 newly counted ballots, including early and absentee votes; counting was to continue until Aug. 28, with certification aimed for Aug. 31.
- Sep 28, 2026The opinion piece by Gail Fenumiai and Jeremy Johnson was published, arguing ranked choice voting does not extend Alaska's counting timeline and proposing four legislative reforms.
- Nov 4, 2026Alaskans waited for more results in the U.S. Senate race and open governor's race; a ballot measure to repeal open primaries and ranked vote general elections was too early to call, and state elections officials targeted Nov. 18 to tabulate under the ranked vote system.
- Nov 5, 2026Reports said both the U.S. Senate and governor's races could go to ranked tabulations.
Key terms
- ranked choice voting
- A voting method in which voters rank candidates by preference and votes are tallied in rounds until a winner emerges.
- absentee ballots
- A vote cast by mail by someone unable to attend their assigned polling station.
- questioned ballots
- A ballot used to record a vote whose voter eligibility must be resolved before it counts.
Source: Wikipedia
Who’s saying what
- Official
- Fenumiai and Johnson say blaming ranked choice voting for delays is "not the case," that the ballot measure creating it did not change the counting deadline, and that four fixes — pre-Election Day absentee processing, electronic poll books, same-day registration updates at polling places and automated mail-ballot signature checks — would speed counting.
- Expert
- University of Alaska professor Luke says Alaska's count has always been slow, but ranked choice voting "certainly exacerbates the issue" because the state waits for the 15-day deadline before running the tabulation.
- Analysts
- David de la Fuente of Third Way says waiting weeks for results in close Alaska races was common even before ranked choice voting.
- Party
- Senate candidate Mary Peltola says counting every vote takes time given far-flung communities, small outposts, service members overseas and students away at college.
Still unverified
The New York Times reported that top political aides to Peltola appeared to be involved in recruiting the lesser-known Senate candidate Dan J. Sullivan, based on interviews with a former Peltola campaign manager, text messages and campaign finance documents; Peltola denied any involvement. Federal authorities have confirmed a criminal investigation exists in the matter.