By Suzanne Downing 
The Juneau Assembly on Monday tabled – indefinitely – the proposal that would have brought ranked-choice voting to future local elections, ending the issue with no debate and little apparent appetite to revive it.
The ordinance, introduced earlier this fall, would have made Juneau the first major city in Alaska to adopt RCV for mayor and Assembly races. But on Monday night, the measure collapsed under the weight of public opposition and the political reality that RCV is rapidly losing favor statewide.
During public testimony, eight residents spoke against adopting the system, and one person, who said they were agnostic, argued only that the proposed ballot language needed significant improvement. No one testified in support of RCV.
Assembly member Ella Adkison, the ordinance sponsor, made the motion herself to table it indefinitely. Visibly uncomfortable, she read from prepared notes and offered a brief explanation: The city needs to cut expenses, she said, and implementing the new election system would add additional costs the municipality “can’t support right now.”
The Assembly then voted unanimously to table the ordinance. No members offered discussion or defense of the proposal.
The silence spoke volumes. Even in a community where voters rejected the repeal of the state use of RCV last year, the idea of implementing it locally drew almost no grassroots enthusiasm and immediate organized opposition.
The broader political climate also loomed large. A new statewide repeal effort has already gathered enough signatures to likely appear on the 2026 general election ballot. If it passes, RCV would be eliminated from all state and federal elections in Alaska, and local RCV systems would be outliers.
For Juneau, Monday’s vote means the matter is officially dead for the foreseeable future.
Yup. I believe the voters will bury it once and for all next election. A pig with lipstick is still a pig!
The only reason I can think of for the Juneau Assembly to table RCV is that they had a fear that some kind of conservative – or maybe even two – might win an election. And we can’t have that… can we?
Now, to work on eliminating the corrupt abomination of mail-in voting …..
Bring the capital 2 the Anchorage Matsu area. We can’t say our thoughts if we can’t get to you.