Hosta

Elections in Alaska
Federal government Presidential elections 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 Presidential primaries and caucuses Democratic 2008 2016 2020 Republican 2008 2012 2016 U.S. Senate elections 1958 1960 1962 1966 1968 1970 sp 1972 1974 1978 1980 1984 1986 1990 1992 1996 1998 2002 2004 2008 2010 2014 2016 2020 2022 2026 U.S. House elections 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1973 (AL sp) 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 AL sp
State government State-wide elections 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 Gubernatorial elections 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 State Senate elections 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 State House elections 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 Ballot measures 1990 2 1998 2 2008 ACWI 2014 2 2020 2
Anchorage Mayoral elections 1981 1984 1987 1990 1994 1997 2000 2003 2006 2009 2012 2015 2018 2021 Propositions 2018 (1)

The 2020 Alaska Democratic presidential primary had been scheduled to take place on Saturday, April 4, 2020, in the Democratic Party presidential primaries for the 2020 presidential election. However, in person voting was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, while mail-in voting was extended to April 10, 2020.^[1] The Alaska primary was a closed party-run primary, with the state awarding 19 delegates, of which 15 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the primary. Voters cast ranked choice voting ballots, with a voter's ballot counting for a backup ranked choice if their first choice was in last place and below the 15 percent threshold for winning delegates.

Presumptive nominee Joe Biden won the rather narrow primary, taking 54.8% of the vote after the distribution of preferences compared to Bernie Sanders 44.3% and one delegate more than Sanders. On the count of voters' first choices, Biden had taken 49.9% of the vote, Sanders 39.3%, and 10.8% were spread between other candidates who had withdrawn from the race, including 7.1% for Warren. On the final count, Biden had 54.8%, Sanders 44.3% and 0.9% of votes were inactive, as they didn't have a preference for either of the candidates left. This meant that Biden won by 55.3% to 44.7%.

Of the 2,133 first round votes (10.8%) not cast for Biden or Sanders, overall, 45.6% went to Biden, 46.4% to Sanders and 8% to neither (i.e., were inactive). Of those who did give a preference for Biden or Sanders, 49.5% went to Biden, 50.5% to Sanders; this slight advantage for Sanders was not enough to overcome Biden's lead for winning the state.^[2]

Procedure

Alaska had been scheduled to hold its primary on April 4, 2020 along with the Wyoming caucus on the same day,^[3] but all in-person voting was cancelled and mail-in ballots were instead counted so long as they were received by April 10, 2020.

The draft delegate selection plan called for a party-run primary using ranked-choice voting, abandoning the caucus system used in past years.^[4] After the first round, when candidates had less than 15% of the vote, the candidate with the fewest votes was eliminated and votes for that candidate were applied to the voter's next choice. This process was repeated until all remaining candidates met the 15% threshold.^[5]

Voting with paper ballots was originally expected to take place throughout the state from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., though some parts of the Alaska Democratic Party's delegate selection plan made note of a voting period between 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. Prospective voters would also have had the option to cast electronic and absentee ballots between March 3 and March 24 given the short voting window; this period was then extended to include all ballots arriving by April 10, after in person voting had been cancelled. In the closed party-run primary, candidates had to meet a threshold of 15 percent statewide (coterminous with the state's sole congressional district) in order to be considered viable.

The 15 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention were allocated proportionally on the basis of the results of the primary. Of these, 9 were district delegates allocated in proportion to the statewide result and another 2 were allocated to party leaders and elected officials (PLEO delegates), in addition to 4 at-large pledged delegates, both also according to the statewide result.^[5] Originally planned with 14 delegates, the number included a 10% bonus of 1 additional delegate by the Democratic National Committee due to the April date, which belonged to Stage II on the primary timetable.^[6]

Following the primary, precinct and house district caucuses were to meet on Saturday, April 18, 2020, to designate delegates for the state convention on Saturday, May 16, 2020, which would have elected delegates to the convention, including 4 unpledged PLEO delegates (4 members of the Democratic National Committee).^[5]

Candidates

The following individuals appeared on the ballot in Alaska:^[7]

Running

• Joe Biden

Withdrawn

There was also an "undeclared" option.^[7] Bloomberg, Buttigieg, Klobuchar and Steyer had submitted their official withdrawal with the Alaska Democratic Party (while the other withdrawn candidates were considered by the party as suspended), but they remained on the ballot, and votes for them were counted.^[8]

Results

References

External links

• The Green Papers delegate allocation summary
• Alaska Democratic Party draft delegate selection plan