Guerin v. State

• Jurisdiction: Alaska,United States
• Citation: Guerin v. State, 537 P.3d 770 (Alaska 2023)
• Decision Date: 28 April 2023
• Parties: Sunny GUERIN, Elizabeth Asisaun Toovak, and Vera Lincoln, Appellants, v. STATE of Alaska, Office of Lieutenant Governor, Division of Elections, and Nancy Dahlstrom and Carol Beecher, in an official capacity, Appellees, and Alaskans for Nick Begich, Intervenor.
• Court: Alaska Supreme Court
• Docket Number: Supreme Court No. S-18457

537 P.3d 770

Sunny GUERIN, Elizabeth Asisaun Toovak, and Vera Lincoln, Appellants,

v.STATE of Alaska, Office of Lieutenant Governor, Division of Elections, and Nancy Dahlstrom and Carol Beecher, in an official capacity, Appellees,andAlaskans for Nick Begich, Intervenor.

Supreme Court No. S-18457

Supreme Court of Alaska.

April 28, 2023

Rehearing Granted In Part November 6, 2023

Holly C. Wells, Mara E. Michaletz, and Zoe A. Danner, Birch Horton Bittner & Cherot, Anchorage, for Appellants.

Katherine Demarest, Thomas Flynn, and Laura Fox, Assistant Attorneys General, Anchorage, and Treg R. Taylor, Attorney General, Juneau, for Appellees.

Richard R. Moses and Stacey C. Stone, Holmes Weddle & Barcott, P.C., Anchorage, for Intervenor.

Before: Winfree, Chief Justice, Maassen, Carney, and Henderson, Justices.[Borghesan, Justice, not participating.]

OPINION

HENDERSON, Justice.

I.INTRODUCTION

Alaska's United States Representative Don Young died unexpectedly in March 2022.Following his death, Alaska held a special primary election and a special general election to select a candidate to complete the remainder of his term.Those special elections were conducted using ranked-choice voting procedures adopted by voters through a 2020 ballot measure.The ballot measure provides that the four candidates receiving the most votes in an open primary election advance to the ranked-choice general election.

After the 2022 special primary election but before the vote was certified, the candidate who then had the third-most votes withdrew.The Division of Elections(Division) determined that it would remove the withdrawn candidate's name from the special general election ballot, but would not include on the ballot the candidate who had received the fifth-most votes in the special primary election.Several voters brought suit against the Division challenging this decision.The superior court determined the Division's actions complied with the law and granted summary judgment in favor of the Division.The voters appeal.

Due to the time-sensitive nature of election appeals, we affirmed the superior court in a short order dated June 25, 2022.We now detail our reasoning in full.¹Because the Division properly applied a statutorily mandated 64-day time limit that prevented the addition of the special primary's fifth-place candidate to the special general election ballot, and because the statutory mandate did not violate the voters’ constitutional rights, we affirm the superior court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the Division.

II.FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

To provide context for our later discussion about the 2022 special elections, we briefly summarize the ballot measure that amended Alaska's election process.We then review the statutory framework governing special elections and candidate withdrawal, before discussing the facts underlying this appeal.

A.Ballot Measure 2

At the November 3, 2020 election, Alaska voters approved changes to the electoral process through "Alaska's Better Elections Initiative"(Ballot Measure 2).²In relevant part Ballot Measure 2 created an open primary election after which the top four candidates advance to a ranked-choice general election.³

1.Changes to primary elections

Prior to Ballot Measure 2, the Division oversaw primary elections for each political party.⁴To become a candidate for a party's primary election, a person must have been a member of the political party, or within the group permitted by the political party to run as a candidate in the primary, and must have submitted a declaration of candidacy.⁵Based on statutory guidelines, each party determined eligibility for voting in its primary election.⁶The candidate who received the most votes within each party's primary election advanced to the general election.⁷Additionally, an aspiring candidate who was not a member of a political party could be nominated by petition to appear on the general ballot.⁸

Following Ballot Measure 2, all candidates for an office run in one "nonpartisan open primary,"⁹ regardless of their party affiliation or lack thereof.¹⁰The primary "does not serve to determine the nominee of a political party ... but serves only to narrow the number of candidates whose names will appear on the ballot at the general election."¹¹Any qualified voter may vote in this primary "without limitations based on the political party or political group affiliation of either the voter or the candidate."¹²Voters in the primary vote for only one candidate for each open position.¹³And for each position, the four candidates who receive the greatest number of votes in the primary advance to the general election.¹⁴

2.Changes to general elections

Prior to Ballot Measure 2, general election ballots displayed the names of primary election winners and the candidates nominated by petition.¹⁵Now "only the names of the four candidates receiving the greatest number of votes for an office" during the primary election will appear on the general election ballot.¹⁶Candidates who did not finish in the top four, or who were not candidates in the primary election, may file to run as write-in candidates.¹⁷

Previously, each voter selected one candidate per office and the candidate receiving the highest number of votes for the office was elected.¹⁸Under the new system, voters can still select one candidate per office, but they may also rank the candidates in order of preference.¹⁹The winner is then determined by tabulating those preferences in a series of rounds.²⁰The Division first must "tabulate each validly cast ballot as one vote" for the voter's top-ranked candidate.²¹If, after this round, one candidate has over 50% of the votes, that candidate is elected.²²If not, the candidate with the fewest number of votes is eliminated, and each ballot that ranks the eliminated candidate first is counted for that ballot's second choice, if any.²³This process repeats until one candidate receives more than half of the active ballots, or only two candidates remain, and the candidate with more votes is elected.²⁴

3.Withdrawing from general elections

A candidate who receives enough votes in the primary election to advance to the general election ballot may withdraw before the election, but that candidate's replacement on or removal from the ballot is subject to statutory and regulatory restrictions.If a qualifying candidate withdraws "after the primary election and 64 or more days before the general election, the vacancy shall be filled ... by replacing the withdrawn candidate with the candidate who received the fifth most votes in the primary election."²⁵Otherwise, "the director shall place on the general election ballot only the names of the four candidates receiving the greatest number of votes for an office."²⁶The Division has also adopted through regulation a 64-day replacement deadline for removing a candidate's name from the ballot.²⁷

4.Special elections

When a vacancy occurs in a federal congressional office, the governor must call a special election by proclamation.²⁸The special primary election must "be held on a date not less than 60, nor more than 90, days after the date the vacancy occurs."²⁹A special general election must then take place "on the first Tuesday that is not a state holiday occurring not less than 60 days after the special primary election."³⁰

Though these provisions set forth certain processes and requirements unique to special elections, special elections are largely governed by the same statutes that govern regular elections.Alaska Statute 15.40.220 explains that unless otherwise specified, "all provisions regarding the conduct of the primary election and general election shall govern the conduct of the special primary election" and special general election.³¹The statute also provides that the general election provisions applying to special elections include, among other specified provisions, those "provisions regarding the duties, powers, rights, and obligations of the director, of other election officials, and of municipalities."³²

B.The 2022 Special Primary Election

When Representative Young died on March 18, 2022, the governor called a special election, including both a primary and a general election, to select a representative to serve the remainder of Representative Young's term.³³This special election was Alaska's first ranked-choice voting election.

On March 22, the Division set and released "an initial, rough timeline of dates based on a June 11 special primary," noting that those dates were subject to change.The timeline set the candidacy filing deadline for April 1(71 days prior to the special primary election) and the deadline to withdraw from the special primary election for April 4(68 days before the special primary election).It set the "[t]arget certification date" for June 25.The Division also "administratively set a withdrawal deadline of Sunday, June 26 at noon, to allow candidates in the special primary election the chance to remove their name from the general election ballot after the primary results are certified but before the general election ballots are finalized."This deadline was not released with the other dates in the timeline.

The special primary election was held on June 11.The Division certified the results on June 24, the same day this appeal was filed.The special general election was scheduled for August 16, the same day as the regularly scheduled 2022 primary election.Pursuant to AS 15.25.055, the withdrawal deadline for the regular primary election was June 25 — 52 days prior to that election.

On June 21 — 56 days before the special general election and the regular primary election — Dr. Al Gross filed his withdrawal from both elections.At that time, preliminary special election results indicated that Dr. Gross had the third most votes in the special primary election, followed by Mary Peltola with the fourth most votes and Tara Sweeney with the fifth most votes.

That same day the Division...