The Alaska Constitution Party will hold an online organizing meeting later this month to introduce the party and discuss ways to grow its registration numbers with the goal of eventually qualifying as a recognized political party in the state.
The party recently announced on its website that it will host an “Organize Alaska Gathering” over Zoom on June 25 at 7:00p AKDT. The event is being organized by state Chair Karen Murray under the direction of Constitution Party Western States Area Chairman Janine Hansen.
“It’s time to establish the Constitution Party permanently in Alaska,” the party said in its announcement.
The meeting is expected to introduce participants to the Constitution Party, detail a brief history of its activity in Alaska, and discuss the ballot access process. The party is also asking supporters with organizing skills, or those willing to learn, to attend to help it develop a larger statewide network.
The Alaska Constitution Party is currently recognized by the Alaska Division of Elections as a political group. Under Alaska law, a political group is an organized group of voters that represents a set of principles and goals but does not yet qualify as a political party. That current status still has benefits, including the state tracking the organization’s total number of registered voters and allowing candidates to request to appear on the ballot with the Constitution affiliation.
The designation also allows the party to organize as a limited political party for the purpose of selecting electors during presidential cycles. Doing so allows the party to place a presidential ticket on the ballot, so long as organizers file a petition signed by voters equal to at least 1 percent of the votes cast in the most recent presidential race. That status ends, however, if the party’s ticket fails to capture at least 3 percent of the vote.
To become a political party, the Alaska Constitution Party needs at least 5,000 registered voters statewide. As of the most recent totals released in May, the party had 754 voters, meaning the organization would need to, at the minimum, register several thousand more if it wants to obtain full status.
In a personal message included with the announcement, Murray said one goal of the party is to “re-establish the basic principles of Liberty and Good Governance.” To that end, it is focused on building a network of supporters, educating voters on constitutional principles, communicating with current officeholders, supporting candidates who share the party’s views, and recruiting future candidates when the party cannot find incumbents or challengers it would otherwise be willing to support.
The party also said it intends to continue working to maintain ballot access as a political group while pursuing eventual recognition as a party. Murray pointed to Alaska’s current top-four primary system in conjunction with ranked choice voting as a unique environment where an organization like the Alaska Constitution Party could compete if it has “the right message, at the right time, in the right place.”
“It is often said that an alternative party can never win, that an alternative candidate will only split the vote,” Murray wrote. “This is a fallacy. Alternative parties can, and do, win elections across these United States of America.”
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