Alaska election officials to recalculate signatures for ranked vote repeal measure after court order

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A state court judge on Friday disqualified numerous booklets used to gather signatures for an initiative that aims to repeal Alaska’s ranked choice voting system and gave elections officials a deadline to determine if the measure still had sufficient signatures to qualify for the November ballot.

The decision by Superior Court Judge Christina Rankin in Anchorage comes in a lawsuit brought by three voters that seeks to disqualify the repeal measure from the ballot. Rankin previously ruled the Division of Elections acted within its authority when it earlier this year allowed sponsors of the measure to fix errors with petition booklets after they were turned in and found the agency had complied with deadlines.

Her new ruling Friday focused on challenges to the sponsors’ signature-collecting methods that were the subject of a recent trial. Rankin set a Wednesday deadline for the division to remove the signatures and booklets she found should be disqualified and for the division to determine if the measure still has sufficient signatures to qualify for the ballot.

The state requires initiative sponsors meet certain signature-gathering thresholds, including getting signatures from voters in at least three-fourths of state House districts. Backers of the repeal initiative needed to gather 26,705 signatures total.

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