- Democrat U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola was leading in first-choice votes in preliminary returns from Tuesday’s election, with over 217,000 ballots counted and thousands of absentee votes still left to be tallied.
- Peltola had 47% of first-choice votes with 400 of 402 precincts reporting. Under Alaska’s new ranked choice voting system, results aren’t final until a candidate has garnered more than 50% of votes. If the leading candidate doesn’t cross that threshold, the winner will be determined by second- and third-choice votes, which will be tallied by election officials on Nov. 23.
- Republican former Gov. Sarah Palin led fellow Republican Nick Begich III in early vote counts. Palin was in second place with nearly 27% of first-choice votes to Begich’s 24%. Libertarian Chris Bye trailed with less than 2% of first-choice votes and stands to be the first candidate eliminated in the ranked choice tabulation.
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Sarah Palin Is Getting Creamed In Alaska’s Odd Voting Scheme
