FAQs on the extra-special special election.

Author’s note: I’ll be updating this article regularly with new information and additional questions we hear from readers. Sightline Institute is also producing and sharing free voter education resources for Alaska at sightline.org/AlaskaVote, including graphics detailing key election dates, sample ballots, and a map of regional election offices. I invite questions in the comments section, by email, and on Twitter.

Alaska’s special election is special indeed: The winner will temporarily fill the US House seat of the late Representative Don Young. A new voting system of open primaries and ranked choice general elections will make its debut. And in the special primary, Alaska will hold its first statewide mail-in election.

The special election gives Alaska voters a chance to test-drive their new approach to picking political leaders. In the primary election, all candidates will appear on a single ballot. The top four voter-getters will then advance to the general election ballot, where voters can rank them from most- to least-favorite. The same system will apply to the regular election later this year, when Alaskans will decide races for legislature, governor, US Senate, and the full two-year term for the House seat.

The combination of open primary and ranked choice general elections promises to help tamp down extreme partisanship, encourage cooperation between candidates, and let voters choose their true favorites rather than candidates they merely tolerate.

Below we answer the top questions we’ve been hearing about Alaska’s special election:

WHAT IS THE SPECIAL ELECTION AND WHY IS IT HAPPENING?

In March 2022, huge news swept the state: Alaska’s only member of the US House of Representatives, the pugnacious 88-year-old Congressman Don Young, had passed away. The US Constitution requires an election to fill a vacant US House seat.

Until Alaskans select a replacement for Young, they will have no voting member in the House. The office is still open and Alaskans can still get in touch, but without a representative in the seat, the Anchorage Daily News explains, “the office cannot introduce or cosponsor bills, nor can it advocate for bills that Young introduced or cosponsored before his death, though those bills can still be considered by the House.” The winner of the special election will serve in Congress from September through the end of Young’s term in January 2023. After that, the winner of the state’s regular election will assume the seat.

WHO ARE THE CANDIDATES RUNNING IN THE SPECIAL ELECTION?

An eclectic slate of 48 candidates is running in the special primary election. You can find their names on a sample ballot from the Alaska Division of Elections. Only 4 will advance from the special primary to the special general election.

HOW DO I LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CANDIDATES?

The Division of Elections has compiled a full list of candidates, along with their contact information and campaign websites.

WHAT ARE THE KEY DATES FOR THE SPECIAL ELECTION?

The special election will take place in two parts.

First, there will be a special primary election to narrow the field to four candidates. Voters must mail in their special primary election ballots with a postmark date on or before Saturday, June 11. (Limited options for early and absentee-in-person voting open on Friday, May 27.)

The special general election takes place on Tuesday, August 16. Important: This will happen on the same day as the regular primary election.

The key dates for the special election are:

Wednesday, April 27: Special election ballots are mailed to voters

Thursday, May 12: Special election deadline to register to vote or update your voter registration address

Friday, May 27: Special election early and absentee in-person voting begins

Saturday, June 11: Special primary election day! This is the last day to postmark a vote by mail ballot or cast a ballot at a Division of Elections Regional Office (see map below or downloa...