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A state Superior Court judge this month upheld a more than $90,000 fine against a group that opposes ranked-choice voting in Alaska. The political group was not fined by the Alaska Public Service Commission for its positions on the new voting system, but for misconduct in its ongoing effort to overturn a voting system that the public approved in 2020.
In December 2022, representatives of the anti-ranked voting group Alaskans for Honest Elections established a tax-exempt church in Washington state to “promote Christian doctrine, establish and oversee houses of worship, evangelize and support missionary efforts throughout the world,” and promote “the preservation of the truth.”
It was also apparently intended to funnel funds to an Alaska campaign office without disclosing the donors.
Art Mathias, who led both the Alaska anti-ranked voting group and the new “church” in Washington state, donated $90,000 to the church, which in turn sent the money to an Alaska political campaign that is trying to put a proposal to eliminate ranked-choice voting on the ballot for this fall's state election.
Alaskans for Fair Elections initially withheld the true source of the money, but the Public Service Commission determined that this violated state law. The group, along with Mathias, sued in court, arguing that the fine violated free speech rights. The group also argued in court that state laws prohibiting the concealment of donors' identities do not apply to ballot initiative campaigns aimed at overturning ranked-choice voting.
But the judge didn't believe it and upheld the full fine, except for a few hundred dollars.
Essentially, this group ran stop signs and red lights, got caught driving without a license, and don't want to pay the fines.
A court case is ongoing over whether the group Alaskans for Fair Elections has collected enough valid signatures to appear on the ballot to overturn ranked-choice voting. The new system eliminates party primaries, with all candidates running at the same time in the primary and the top four moving on to the general election.
If this proposition were to appear on the ballot, Alaskans would have the opportunity to vote to eliminate or keep ranked choice voting. That's how the system should work. Breaking the law, hiding donor identities, and laundering funds through populist churches to get a vote is not how the system should work.
Alaskans who want honest elections should live up to their name, act honestly, and pay the fine.
Larry Persily is a longtime Alaska journalist who has worked in federal, state and local public policy in Alaska and Washington, D.C. He lives in Anchorage and is publisher of the Wrangell Sentinel weekly newspaper.
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