Ranked Choice Voting is a Threat to Democracy

 Alaskans are experiencing pro-ranked choice voting commercials on the internet that has little kids choosing ice creme flavors by ranked choices. One little guy even says he is bored. The voice over gy says 'it turns out ranked choice voting is simple'. And that's all a load of bull; voters may find ranking choices easy, what they don't know is how the rankings affect the final winner. The winner is chosen by combing the rankings. Someone with more second place votes can win. It is uncertainty if more second and third place votes can defeat a clear first place rank winner, etc.

There can be no ranked choice without the possibility that the non-first plays vote-getter is a potential choice of the voter. As if peppermint ice creme is a ranked substitute for vanilla. Political candidates aren't like that. One candidate may be anti-abortion and the vioter likes that, so the voter's second choice could possibly be the pro-abortion guy if they can't get the first? Republicans probably ranked the two well known registered Republicans in the race first and second while Democrats probably ranked the neo-Republican Independent Lisa Murkowski first and the second place Republican Nick Begitch second and Sarah Palin (the first place Republican) not even third. Democrats probably voted for their own party candidate second. In Alaska one doesn't need to vote for candidates of their own party.

Ranked choice voting in Alaska appears to be especially designed to let third party candidates beat party candidates. Senator Murkowski in particular benefited from the recent ranked choice voting. She was able to get some more Republican votes and independent votes than she might have. Democrat women voters and Alaska native voters supported Murkowski over the Democrat candidate because Murkowski's position on social issues are more Democrat than Republican, she has deep pockets from her inherited incumbancy from her father then Gov. Murkowski who appointed her to her first term as a Senator, and the international insider team that supports the deep state supports the Murkowski brand of politics. This post isn't about Senator Murkowski it is simply a criticism of ranked choice voting that allows odd copilations and structures of political races to be decided by commission and ommision of choices for candidates one doesn't want to be elected.

The gaming of voting in Alaska really should be studied by an independent think tank that can evaluate the varieties of ways that winners can be selected from various combinations of parties and candidates in races with multiple parties. Murkowski led by 2000 votes after the votes were counted, yet a candidate needed to have 50% of the votes to win without going to the ranked choices apparently. If Democrats voted for Murkowski as their candidate and 25% of Republicans did since she is a registered Republican the party wouldn't run as their own candidate, and Democrats voted for the second place Republican Nick Begitch as their second choice, Begitch would place ahead of Kelly Tshibaka the Republican winner on the second choice rankings and Murkowski would have won of the ranked choices mean anything. If the contest is close second choices would be added to the first choices to see who the winner is. The system is implicitly crooked and allows the crooked an solid advantage.

Ranked choice voting seems like a direct attack on the integrity of U.S. elections.