| Christopher Constant | Anchorage Daily News |
In his opinion piece in the ADN earlier this week (“The impact of ranked choice voting and monoculture governance in Alaska “), Rep. Kevin McCabe warns that ranked choice voting creates an ideological “monoculture.” In fact, the opposite is true. The real monoculture is the old system he praises, where low-turnout primaries and two-party dominance meant Alaskans were forced to choose between extremes, and many voices were shut out entirely.
a system that reflects the full spectrum
Alaskans chose ranked choice precisely because we wanted more than the tired two-party script. We wanted a system that reflects the full spectrum of Alaskan independence and ingenuity. The old “conviction” politics produced the very sameness and polarization McCabe warns against. Ranked choice voting, imperfect though any system may be, breaks that mold and gives voters — not parties — the final word.
Christopher Constant is a member of the Anchorage Assembly.