Alaska Supreme Court hears a ranked choice case Aug. 25, with the legal question unstated

The Alaska Supreme Court will hear argument Tuesday, Aug. 25, over the state's ranked choice voting system, one week after Alaskans cast ballots in the top-four primary. The calendar does not state the legal question presented.

The court's oral argument calendar sets Catherine Giessel et al. v. State of Alaska and Repeal Now for 1:30 p.m. by Zoom. The case is docketed as S19922. Giessel, the Alaska State Senate majority leader from Anchorage, is joined by Joelle Hall, president of the Alaska AFL-CIO, and Waahlaal Gidaag Barbara Blake.

Voters approved the open primary and ranked choice system in 2020, and the court upheld it in 2022. A 2024 repeal failed by 743 votes after a recount. The new repeal measure on the Nov. 3 ballot would eliminate the top-four primary and ranked-choice general election, replacing it with a party primary system and repealing Measure 2's contribution disclosure requirement.

This account is drawn from the court's calendar and appellate docket, neither of which states the issue, and carries no comment from the parties.