Ranked Choice Voting Education Campaign Launches With Mock Elections Today

June 1, 2021 (JUNEAU, AK) – The Division of Elections today launched the Ranked Choice
Voting (RCV) Voter Education Campaign with an RCV mock election. The Division collaborated
with RankedVote, an online ranked choice voting app, to develop an interactive, multilingual
education tool that mimics Alaska’s new ballots and election system to help voters practice and
understand how RCV works. In this first mock election, voters will choose the best type of
Alaskan seafood. The mock election can be found at:
https://app.rankedvote.co/elections/6646/Best-Seafood-in-Alaska—Top-Four-Primary/6632/vote

The Top Four Primary will be open for the next two weeks at which point the top four vote
getters will advance to the RCV General Election and voters will have two weeks to rank their
choices. Once voters submit their ballot, they can immediately view current results, including a
round by round breakdown that explains when and why a candidate was eliminated and how a
candidate became the winner. Additional mock elections will run from now until the 2022
election cycle.

“Alaska is preparing to vote using two new election methods for state and federal offices and
these mock elections are not only a really fun way to learn; they’re also just one piece of an
outreach and voter education plan developed by the Division,” said Division Director, Gail
Fenumiai. “It’s exciting to launch a voter education campaign that builds on previous tools and
strategies we’ve used but takes it up several notches with unprecedented innovation, inclusion,
engagement, and partnerships.”

The app is currently available in English and Spanish but the Division’s Language Assistance
team is working on translating all potential app text into Tagalog, General Central Yup’ik, Norton
Sound Kotlik Yup’ik, Yukon Yup’ik, Hooper Bay Yup’ik, Bristol Bay Yup’ik, Chevak Cup’ik,
Gwich’in, Northern Inupiaq, Seward Peninsula Inupiaq, Koyukon, and Nunivak Cup’ig. These
translated versions, as well as other translated RCV resources, will be available in the following
months. The General Central Yup’ik RCV FAQ page and sample ballot are now available on the
Division’s website: https://www.elections.alaska.gov/RCV_GeneralCentralYupik.php

In addition to improving language access and accessibility resources, the voter education plan
will leverage many trusted and culturally competent partners around the state in order to expand
outreach efforts even further than before. Education is crucial to implementing a vastly different
election system which means all hands-on deck for educating voters and ensuring they have the
information they need to make their voices heard. Some elements of the campaign include
outreach and collaboration with a wide network of partners; workshops, PSA’s, and digital
media on popular streaming services and app platforms, live streamed chats and Q&A’s, and
redesigned web pages that are more user friendly and interactive.

Voters can reach the Division of Elections with questions and feedback specifically related to
RCV by emailing elections@alaska.gov. Organizations and other potential partners who want to
help with the campaign can also reach out to that email address.

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Division of Elections Contact: Tiffany Montemayor GOV.elec.media@alaska.gov or (907)
465-4611