Election Conversations: Sen. Scott Kawasaki, Alaska

Election Conversations: Sen. Scott Kawasaki, Alaska

Kawasaki says his vast state, with its scattered rural villages and unpredictable weather, has been a leader in mail voting.

NCSL's Elections and Redistricting team is interviewing local election officials and legislative election leaders to highlight the work they're doing to improve election policy and administration in the U.S. To see other installments in this monthly series, visit Election Conversations.

Scott Kawasaki's career in public service started when he was a high school intern in Washington, D.C. "I loved meeting different members of Congress from different communities who brought their ideas to this huge pot of ideas, where the best ideas rose to the surface," he says.

After that, he went back home to Fairbanks, Alaska, and started working on a chemistry degree. Just before graduation, he decided to run for the City Council. He was 23. "I was an outsider. At the time, all of the City Council members did the same things, had the same lifestyles and careers and were the same age," Kawasaki says. He won his race, then ran for and was elected in 2006 to the Alaska House of Representatives, where he served for a dozen years.

"There were some tumultuous times in the Legislature. At the time, the Senate president-who was also the senator in my district-was not focused on bringing people together, so I decide to run against him. It was a tough race, and somehow, I won," he says.

Now in his eighth year in the Senate, the Democrat chairs the State Affairs Committee, which handles elections legislation, and the Joint Armed Services Committee and serves on the Resources Committee.

Kawasaki recently spoke with NCSL about Alaska's bipartisan legislative coalitions, ranked choice voting and what he likes most about being a senator.

Alaska has a unique legislative structure that includes bipartisan coalitions. How does that work?

Our bipartisan coalition in the Senate started around 2010, but the House one started in 2016. During that election cycle, there was a lot of dissent among members of the Republican Party, and some members of that majority were not seeing eye to eye with the leadership. So, six Republicans decided to join 17 Democrats to create a coalition government in the House. The process was a bit easier for the Senate because we have the smallest body, with only 20 members, making it easier to navigate. We know each other better; we know each other's families. With nine Democrats, it was easier to get two or three Republicans to join the bipartisan coalition. Since then, we've had good relationships. We have a Senate president and a majority leader who are Republicans. The Senate Rules and Finance chairs are Democrats, and we have a really good collaborative work environment in the coalition.

Tell us about the history of ranked choice voting in Alaska and where it currently stands.

Ranked choice voting started from citizen initiative where signatures were gathered, and voters voted to implement a process with three elements. The first element was to make sure that any money that comes from outside the state is known, so we know the source of the funder. The second element was to create an open primary, and this is what I think generates bipartisanship and the spirit of cooperation. Previously, Republicans voted for the most Republican candidate and Democrats voted for the most Democratic candidate. Now, they rank them, so the top four candidates go to the general election no matter how many votes they get.

The candidate in fourth is eliminated, then the candidate in third, and then the two top ones are left. If you rank all the way down the ballot, you may be supporting a candidate of the other party. Two-thirds of voters in Alaska are not partisan-they're not registered as Democrats or Republicans-so I think that ranked choice voting has offered those voters a voice. Currently, there is another citizen initiative to repeal the process that will go to voters in November. But it failed in the last election cycle, and I think ranked choice voting is here to stay.

Alaska is a vast state with many rural communities and villages. How does that affect election administration in the state?

Something that is unique here is that the state runs elections, rather than counties. We have four regions-Fairbanks, Southeast area, Kenai and Anchorage-and each helps administer elections in the more remote parts of the state. We call ourselves a "big state-small state" because everybody knows everybody within a couple of degrees. So, there's a hometown feel all across the state. This allows us to have connections with voters and election administrators, including the director of elections.

Our state has been a leader in the idea that mail ballots are something that we need. In small villages without a post office, they might rely on , so we have to make sure the election laws-like all other laws-work for a diverse set of communities. For example, Anchorage has a population of around 300,000, whereas Aniak (about 320 miles west of Anchorage) has a population of around 300, and we have to make sure all eligible voters can vote. To have a single Election Day where everybody votes at their precinct doesn't really work for Alaska. We could have sudden storms that isolate villages and they may not be able to set up a precinct for voting. In 2024, there were two precincts out of about 400 that could not open because of the weather. Luckily, a lot of people voted early. In large communities, we have early voting for 20 days before an election. We always encourage people to vote early because we never know what the weather will be like on Election Day.

What election policies has the State Affairs Committee looked at recently?

When I first joined the State Affairs Committee, there was a lot of discussion about voter fraud and how to make sure our voter registration rolls are clean while making sure every eligible voter is able to register and vote. We've tried to streamline the system to make it easier for voters to register and to find out if they're registered. We have automatic voter registration through the Permanent Fund Dividend that lets Alaska residents file an application for and register to vote at the same time. Because of this, we have a large voter roll. For whatever reason, a lot of eligible people don't vote, but at least they're registered, and they can vote if they go to their precinct. A lot of what we've been working on is streamlining processes. We've added some legislation on cybersecurity, and allowing tribal IDs and other IDs that are accessible. We're looking at legislation around AI and messaging which we hope to pass before the election this year.

What is your favorite part of working in the Legislature?

This job has been really rewarding. And I know right now it can be hard to be in politics because it feels like there's a lot of yelling and screaming, but if you look past that and listen, there are voices that have real concerns that we can address. Sometimes, we get caught up in the gravitas of huge decisions that are playing out in the news or on television, but I really appreciate those one-on-one connections. I only represent 33,000 people in my district, and I treat everyone as my neighbor, because they are my neighbors. We've gotten some things done because my neighbor comes over while I'm mowing my lawn and asks about an issue, and we look into it. We've changed laws because of one-on-one connections, and that's been the most rewarding part of the job.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.