Special election results expected for lone Alaska House seat

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — State elections officials plan to release results Wednesday of the special election for Alaska's only U.S. House seat, with Republican Sarah Palin and Democrat Mary Peltola vying to become the first woman to hold the seat.

The results are expected 15 days after the Aug. 16 election, in line with a deadline for state elections officials to receive absentee ballots mailed from outside the U.S. This is the first statewide race in Alaska in which ranked choice voting was used. Ranked voting is among a suite of elections changes approved by voters in 2020 that also included replacing party primaries with open primaries.

Peltola, a former state lawmaker who turned 49 on Wednesday, was leading in first-choice votes, followed by Palin and Republican Nick Begich.

Under ranked voting, ballots are counted in rounds. If one candidate gets more than 50% of the vote in the first round, they win. But if no one hits that threshold, a process begins in which the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. Voters who chose the eliminated candidate as their top pick then have their votes counted for their next choice. That process continues until two candidates remain, and whoever has the most votes wins.

The tabulation rounds were expected to begin late Wednesday afternoon. The Alaska Oil and Gas Association shortened its planned candidate forum in Anchorage, expected to feature all three candidates, to avoid overlapping with the release of results by the state Division of Elections. The division plans to livestream the tally.

Elections officials have targeted Friday for certification of the race.

The winner of the election will serve the remainder of the late U.S. Rep. Don Young's term, which ends early next year. Young, a Republican, died in March and held...