Aug 28, 2026 · 5 min · 5 segments
Steve Forbes explains why ranked-choice voting completely perverts the democratic process, and urges Alaska voters to end it through a referendum in November. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit…
Steve ForbesHost
Our heated political environment these days is loaded with cries that American democracy is in danger.
The two major parties and countless office holders and candidates and political groups are accused of threatening the very existence of the American Republic.
Much, though not all, of this perfervid rhetoric can be taken with a proverbial grain of salt.
But there is one danger lurking out there that has not received much attention recently and would, if it became widespread, pervert our elections.
Some states and localities have provisions for runoffs if no candidate passes a certain threshold, usually 50% of the vote.
They also rank other names on the ballot in order of preference, second choice, third choice, and so on.
If no candidate gets 50% or more of the ballots cast, then the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and his votes are distributed to the second choice picks.
In 2022, in the red state of Alaska, a Democrat won a special race for the House of Representatives.
It doesn't take much imagination to see how this system can be gamed, where secondary votes are deliberately cast to help other candidates.
That's what happened a few days ago in the Alaska primary, where ads were run for a non-serious candidate without his knowledge because it was felt this would assist another candidate.
Alaska results take days to tabulate, in no small part because of the numerous candidates running for various offices.
Our heated political environment these days is loaded with cries that American democracy is in danger.
The two major parties and countless office holders and candidates and political groups are accused of threatening the very existence of the American Republic.
Much, though not all, of this perfervid rhetoric can be taken with a proverbial grain of salt.
But there is one danger lurking out there that has not received much attention recently and would, if it became widespread, pervert our elections.
Some states and localities have provisions for runoffs if no candidate passes a certain threshold, usually 50% of the vote.
They also rank other names on the ballot in order of preference, second choice, third choice, and so on.
If no candidate gets 50% or more of the ballots cast, then the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and his votes are distributed to the second choice picks.
In 2022, in the red state of Alaska, a Democrat won a special race for the House of Representatives.
It doesn't take much imagination to see how this system can be gamed, where secondary votes are deliberately cast to help other candidates.
That's what happened a few days ago in the Alaska primary, where ads were run for a non-serious candidate without his knowledge because it was felt this would assist another candidate.
Alaska results take days to tabulate, in no small part because of the numerous candidates running for various offices.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.
