Ranked-Choice Voting Explained Amid Alaska Senate Name Dispute
Alaska’s November 3 Senate race features two similarly named candidates and ranked-choice voting, a system used statewide in only Alaska and Maine.
At a glance
- Alaska and Maine are the only U.S. states using ranked-choice voting statewide.
- Voters rank candidates; if no majority, last-place candidates are eliminated and votes redistributed until someone wins.
- President Trump has sued Alaska over the Senate race, citing confusion between two candidates named Sullivan.
Alaska is holding a U.S. Senate election on November 3 using ranked-choice voting, a system in which voters rank candidates by preference rather than picking just one. The race has drawn national attention because two candidates with similar names—incumbent Republican Senator Dan S Sullivan and retired teacher Daniel J Sullivan Jr—are both on the ballot.
How ranked-choice voting works
Under ranked-choice voting, if no candidate wins more than 50 percent of first-choice votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. Those ballots are redistributed to voters’ next-ranked choices, and the count repeats until one candidate has a majority. Unlike a traditional runoff, voters do not need to return to the polls. If a voter ranks only one candidate and that candidate is eliminated, the ballot cannot be transferred.
Where ranked-choice voting is used
Only Alaska and Maine use ranked-choice voting statewide. Maine adopted it in 2016 and first used it in congressional elections in 2018. Alaska approved it through a 2020 ballot initiative and uses open primaries that send the top four candidates to the general election. The system is also used in some local elections, including in New York City and San Francisco, and Washington, DC, adopted it for federal and local elections beginning in 2026.
The Alaska Senate controversy
In Alaska’s Senate race, state officials have tried to distinguish the two Sullivans by listing the incumbent as a registered Republican and the challenger without a party label. A New York Times report suggested the challenger may have been recruited by Democrats as a spoiler candidate, a claim the teacher denies, saying his candidacy is genuine. The Alaska Supreme Court allowed both candidates to remain on the ballot in June.
Legal challenge and debate
President Donald Trump has sued Alaska, seeking to block certification of the Senate results if the incumbent loses. The lawsuit argues that name confusion could affect the outcome, while Alaska officials and Democrats are challenging the case. The suit has raised concerns about federal involvement in state election administration, which the U.S. Constitution assigns to the states.
Supporters say ranked-choice voting reduces the “spoiler effect,” lets voters support their preferred candidate without fear of wasting a vote, and encourages candidates to appeal to broader audiences. Critics say it complicates voting and counting and could delay results, undermining confidence. A 2025 study in Political Behavior found that 4.8 percent of ranked-choice ballots are improperly marked, though not all are invalidated.
Source: Al Jazeera.
Questions and answers
- What is ranked-choice voting?
- Voters rank candidates in order of preference. If no one wins a majority, the lowest-ranked candidate is eliminated and votes are redistributed until a candidate has a majority.
- Which states use ranked-choice voting?
- Alaska and Maine use it statewide. It is also used in some local elections, including in New York City and San Francisco.
- Why is Alaska’s Senate race controversial?
- Two candidates named Dan Sullivan are on the ballot. President Trump has sued to block certification if the incumbent loses, citing potential voter confusion.
