Lt. Governor Nancy Dahlstrom Announces Preliminary Results of Ballot Initiatives Review

February 27, 2024 (Anchorage, AK) – Today, Lieutenant Governor Nancy Dahlstrom announced the preliminary results of the comprehensive review of ballot initiative petitions conducted by the Division of Elections.

“As the Division of Elections continues its thorough and rigorous review process, unofficial counts from their examination of the two ballot initiatives proposed for the upcoming election have met the minimum signature requirements,” said Lieutenant Governor Dahlstrom. “My duty is to ensure that each initiative petition meets the legal and procedural requirements set forth in our state constitution and statutes.”

The review process includes a detailed examination of the number and qualification of signatures collected. Each initiative petition required 26,705 qualified signatures from residents in at least 30 of the 40 house districts.

23AMLS is, “An initiative to increase Alaska’s minimum wage, provide workers with sick leave, and protect workers from practices that violate their constitutional rights.” As of today, sponsors of 23AMLS submitted 34,079 qualified signatures from 36 of the 40 house districts.

22AKHE is, “An act to get rid of the open primary system and ranked-choice general election.” As of today, sponsors of 22AKHE submitted 36,982 qualified signatures from 34 of the 40 house districts.

The Division of Elections is still in the process of verifying all signatures submitted for both petitions. Once the review is complete, the results will be made available to the public on the Division of Elections website, and an official letter will be sent to the sponsors of both petitions.

The initiatives will appear on the 2024 general election ballot in November once they are both determined to have been properly filed unless substantially similar legislation is enacted in the current legislative session. Public hearings on each ballot initiative will be held in the coming months per AS 15.45.195.

For more information, please contact the Division of Elections.