“Scam to rig elections”: Tom Cotton fumes over Sarah Palin loss as GOP fans cry “stolen election”
Republicans claim a new ranked-choice system approved by Alaska voters is some kind of nefarious Democratic plot
IGOR DERYSH

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., fumed over Alaska's new voter-approved voting system after Democrat Mary Peltola defeated former Republican Gov. Sarah Palin in a special U.S. House election decided by ranked-choice voting.

Peltola, a former state representative, became the first Alaskan Native elected to Congress on Wednesday after edging out Palin 51.5% to 48.5% in a special election to replace the late Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska. It was the state's first time using a ranked-choice voting system approved by voters in 2020. Under the rules, which are also used in New York City and other areas, voters can rank candidates in order of preference. If no one reaches 50% of the vote, the last-place candidate is eliminated and their votes are reallocated. The process continues until someone reaches a majority of the votes.

Peltola led among first-preference choices with 38% of first-place votes and overtook Palin as votes backing fellow Republican Nick Begich were reallocated. Peltola was aided by a "huge exhaustion rate" among Begich voters, only half of whom ranked Palin as their second choice while more than 20% did not rank anyone at all, election analyst Dave Wasserman noted on Twitter.

"In the end, Palin was so disliked [the election] wasn't even that close," he wrote.

Peltola will serve out the rest of ...

https://www.salon.com/2022/09/01/scam-t ... -election/

This is the most hilarious news. I am not a fan of ranked choice voting nor of requiring a candidate to get more than 50% of the vote in a three way election but the hypocrisy being spewed by Cotton and others and the proof that they don't understand anything about the big picture makes me smile inside.