CNN
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The results of Alaska’s special general election to fill out the remainder of the late Rep. Don Young’s term remain uncertain, with CNN projecting that none of the candidates on the ballot topped 50 percent on Tuesday, a necessary feat considering account for the state’s new voting rules. .
The special general election, which was triggered by Young’s death, is the first time Alaska has used ranked-choice voting, a process that asks voters to rank their preferred candidates, with the votes of the lowest-performing candidates only come into play if not. one exceeds 50%. CNN predicted that no candidate crossed that threshold, meaning it will be some time before a winner is determined, with ballot tabulation for the ranked election scheduled to begin on Aug. 31, the deadline for voting abroad.
The race to determine who will fill out the remainder of Young’s term pits former Gov. Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee who has not appeared on the ballot since that election loss, with Nick Begich III, who won the ‘endorsed by the Alaska Republican Party in April and is the product of a powerful Alaska Democratic political family and former Democratic state Rep. Mary Peltola.
All three candidates and independent Al Gross advanced to the August special general election after a June nonpartisan special primary, but Gross withdrew from the race and encouraged his supporters to support Peltola.
Palin’s attempted political comeback comes 13 years after she resigned from the Alaska governor’s office in 2009 during her only term. Since then, he has been a conservative media figure and has endorsed and campaigned with several Republican candidates, but has largely distanced himself from Alaska politics.
Although Palin was by far the best-known candidate in the race and had the support of former President Donald Trump, who won Alaska by 10 points in 2020, rival candidates and political observers in the state say earlier that the ranked election voting process could harm her. possibilities in the special general election. He also faced opposition from voters still angry that he left the governor’s office.
Regardless of who wins the special general election to fill out the remainder of Young’s term, there will be a regular general election, also using ranked-choice voting, in November to determine who will fill the seat in the next Congress.
Palin, Begich and Peltola were also among the candidates on the ballot for Tuesday’s primary election. All three will advance to the November election, CNN predicted, with a fourth candidate to be determined.
In the Senate race, Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Trump-backed Kelly Tshibaka and Democrat Patricia Chesbro will advance to the November election, CNN projects, against a fourth candidate to be determined. Murkowski became a target of the former president after she voted to convict him in his January 2021 impeachment trial.
