Alaska’s top-four ranked choice voting system survived by a whisker in the November election, but supporters may not want to pop the champagne corks just yet.

Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom announced that she will seek a recount of Ballot Measure 2, the ranked choice voting repeal that failed by 50.1% to 49.9%, or 664 votes, in the Nov. 5 balloting.

“Alaska law ensures the integrity of our elections, and with results as close as these, a recount will be conducted as outlined by statute,” Ms. Dahlstrom, a Republican, said in a Monday statement.

Under Alaska law, the state bears the costs of a recount in races where the margin of victory is less than 0.5% of the total votes cast.

Ballot Measure 2 failed by a margin of 0.4%, triggering a state-funded recount “upon request.”

The Alaska Republican Party said it will request a recount once the final vote is certified on Nov. 30.

The party said it has assembled a team to observe and review the recount led by Harmeet Dhillon, a lawyer and the Republican National Committeewoman from California.

The Alaska Division of Elections is already making preparations.

“We are actively gathering the necessary resources to conduct a thorough and efficient recount,” said Carol Beecher, director of the elections division. “Our team is committed to meeting the 10-day recount completion deadline following the scheduled certification of the election by the State Review Board on November 30.”

The race to overturn ranked choice voting was notable for the narrow margin of victory as well as the enormous discrepancy in spending.

The pro-repeal Yes on 2 campaign led by Phil Izon raised about $150,000, meaning that it was outspent by the anti-repeal No on 2 campaign by about 100 to 1.

Far from being discouraged, Mr. Izon said the election results show that ranked choice voting is hanging by a thread in Alaska.

“This razor-thin margin isn’t a loss — it’s a rallying cry,” said Mr. Izon in an email. “With just a little more effort and support, victory is well within reach next time!”

The system approved by voters in 2020 combines a nonpartisan “jungle” primary in which the four top vote-getters move to the general election ballot. The final vote is tallied using the ranked choice system, in which voters rank the four candidates by preference.

If no candidate receives 50% of the first-preference vote, the votes are reallocated, with the candidate receiving the fewest first-preference votes being eliminated and that person’s votes then being reallocated to supporter’s second choice.

This process, which continues until someone gets a majority, also is referred to as an “instant runoff” system.

Got it? Apparently many Alaskans didn’t. Foes cited dissatisfaction with the system’s complexity and lengthy ballots as major factors driving the repeal effort, while proponents argued that the system gives voters more choices.

Meredith Sumpter, president and CEO of FairVote, which supports ranked choice voting, called the election victory “a good day for my home state of Alaska.”

“We always knew this would be a close vote in this highly polarized environment, but the takeaway is clear. For the second time in four years, Alaska voters have voted for better elections,” she said in a Nov. 20 statement.

The narrow Alaska win was one of the few bright spots for ranked choice voting in 2024. Ballot measures to install ranked choice voting or nonpartisan primaries — or both — lost in every state in which they were proposed, including Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and South Dakota.

In Missouri, voters approved a ballot proposal to ban ranked choice voting as well as prohibit non-citizens from voting.

Advocates had better luck at the local level. The District of Columbia and several municipalities approved ranked choice voting measures.

Only two states — Alaska and Maine — use ranked choice voting in their federal elections. Hawaii began using the system for special federal elections and filling county council vacancies in 2023.

San Francisco and New York are two of about 50 municipalities that also use the system.

• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.