Colorado voters will be deciding whether or not to overhaul elections with open primaries and ranked choice voting this November with Proposition 131.
Currently, Alaska and Maine utilize the process statewide while several other local jurisdictions like New York City and Boulder have also implemented ranked choice voting (RCV) for municipal elections.
In 2024, multiple states such as Colorado and Nevada could join those ranks with ballot measures that have brought in millions of dollars from wealthy backers both in Colorado and around the nation.
For Alaskans, open primaries and ranked choice voting have worked exactly as intended since implementation in 2022. But depending on who is asked, this is seen as both good and bad.
State Senator Cathy Geissel is a Republican who was primaried in 2020 to a more conservative challenger under Alaska’s previous election system.
Geissel said the state Republican party fractured, with some moving further to the right, making it difficult to pass legislation. As a result, she often worked across the aisle with Democrats to advance and approve bills.