One ballot, two elections: The pick-one midterm primaries and the ranked choice special election for US House are on the same ballot.

August is a big month for Alaska voters, with a regular midterm primary election and special general election happening on the same day. The races will appear on the same ballot.

Our best advice? Don’t forget to flip it over and complete both sides! The front of the ballot features pick-one primaries for governor and other statewide races. Flip it over to vote in Alaska’s first ever ranked choice election. The winner of the ranked choice election will temporarily fill the US House seat held most recently by the late Representative Don Young.

2022 marks the first year Alaska voters will use a combination of pick-one open primaries and ranked choice general elections to choose their lawmakers. When combined, the two voting reforms promise to help tamp down extreme partisanship, encourage cooperation between candidates, and let voters opt for their true favorites rather than candidates they merely tolerate.

Below we answer the top questions we’ve been hearing about Alaska’s August 16, 2022, primary and special general elections.

GENERAL INFORMATION ON ALASKA’S AUGUST 2022 ELECTIONS

The regular midterm pick-one primary and the special ranked choice general election are both on the ballot due August 16.

Voters in the primary will pick one candidate per race. The top four vote-getters in each race will move on to the general election. The primaries will include races for governor, US Senate, US House, and both houses of the Alaska state legislature.

The special general election will fill the seat of Representative Don Young, but just for a short time. The longtime Congressman died in March at the age of 88. Voters need to choose a new representative to serve out the last several months of his term in the US House.

Including both elections on a single ballot allows the Alaska Division of Elections to be more efficient in a year with an unexpected special election.

WHAT’S A PICK-ONE PRIMARY?

In a pick-one open primary, all candidates appear in a single race, regardless of party affiliation. Voters pick their one favorite. The top four vote-getters in Alaska’s primary advance to the ranked choice general election in November. Voters will use the pick-one primary in August in races for legislature, governor, US Senate, and the full two-year term for US House.

Alaskans already voted in a pick-one primary earlier this year. The special primary election for the late Don Young’s US House seat, held in June, sent four candidates to the special general election: Sarah Palin, Nick Begich, Al Gross, and Mary Peltola. (Gross later dropped out, leaving only three candidates in the running.) The special general election featuring Peltola, Begich, and Palin will appear on the back side of the August ballot, where voters will use ranked choice voting to indicate their preferences among the three.

HOW WILL RANKED CHOICE VOTING WORK IN THE SPECIAL GENERAL ELECTION?

The ranked choice election for Congressman Young’s seat appears on the back of the August ballot. Voters will rank those candidates in their order of preference. (This quick video shows how election officials count ranked choice ballots and determine a winner.)

Once the polls are closed, everybody’s first-choice vote is counted. If a candidate receives a majority of the first-choice votes (50 percent plus 1), that candidate is the winner. If no candidate achieves a majority with first-choice votes alone, then the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated. The voters who preferred that candidate will then have their vote count for their next preference on their ballot. The elimination of candidates and redistribution of votes continues until a candidate receives a majority of the vote.

HOW DO I KEEP TRACK OF KEY ELECTION DATES?

The special general election and the regular primary election both take place on Tuesday, August 16. This is the l...