Alaska’s new election system — with open primaries and ranked voting — has been a model for those in other states who are frustrated by political polarization and a sense that voters lack real choice at the ballot box. Used for the first time in 2022, the changes helped propel the first Alaska Native to a seat in Congress. The voting system, however, could be short-lived. Opponents of ranked voting want to repeal it and are entangled in a legal fight over whether their initiative will be on Alaska’s November...

The other question will ask voters whether to allow the state’s court system to charge defendants a fee that would help fund the pension systems for sheriffs and prosecuting attorneys. While other, more high profile, citizen-led questions, such as restoring abortion rights in the state, are awaiting certification by Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, the ranked choice voting proposal is the latest in a wave of red states that have prohibited the alternative voting counting method. If not, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and voters who chose...