Alaska will keep its four-year-old ranked-choice voting and top-four primary system after a recount found the repeal effort fell short by 743 votes.

The recount requested by the Alaska Republican Party showed Ballot Measure 2 lost by less than one-quarter of a percentage point out of more than 321,000 votes cast, meaning that the state will retain the quirky voting protocol passed in 2020.

While ranked-choice voting prevailed, the closeness of the race shows that Alaskans may not be entirely sold on the system, which has voters rank candidates in the general election from first to fourth preference after an open, non-partisan primary.

Organizations in support of ranked-choice voting amassed a whopping $14 million to defeat the repeal, or 28 times the $500,000 raised by the two committees in favor of Ballot Measure 2, according to Ballotpedia.

Ranked-choice voting proponents argue that the system provides better outcomes by expanding choices for voters, while critics contend that the vote-counting process increases complexity and reduces transparency, opening the door for electoral shenanigans.

The repeal’s defeat came as one of the few bright spots for ranked-choice voting in the November election.

Voters in Washington, D.C., passed Initiative 83, which sets up a top-five open primary and ranked-choice general election ballot.

Elsewhere, however, ballot measures establishing ranked-choice voting, open primaries, or both were rejected in all seven states in which they appeared on the ballot.

In addition, Missouri voted to prohibit ranked-choice voting in state and local elections, bringing to 11 the number of states that ban the system.

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