2020 Alaska Democratic primary
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19 delegates (15 pledged, 4 unpledged) to the Democratic National Convention |
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The 2020 Alaska Democratic primary was scheduled to take place on Saturday, April 4, 2020, in the Democratic Party presidential primaries for the 2020 presidential election. However, in person voting was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, while mail-in voting was extended to April 10, 2020.[1] The Alaska primary is a closed party-run primary, with the state awarding 19 delegates, of which 15 are pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the primary.
Procedure
Alaska was scheduled to hold its primary on April 4, 2020,[2] although all in-person voting has been cancelled and mail-in ballots will be counted so long as they are received by April 10, 2020.
The draft delegate selection plan calls for a party-run primary using ranked-choice voting, abandoning the caucus system used in past years.[3]
Voting with paper ballots was, before the in person primary was cancelled, expected to take place throughout the state from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., though some parts of the Alaska Democratic Party's delegate selection plan make note of a voting period between 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. Prospective voters would also have had the option to cast electronic and absentee ballots between March 3 and March 24 given the short voting window; this period was extended to include all ballots arriving by April 10 after in person voting was cancelled. In the closed party-run primary, candidates must meet a threshold of 15 percent statewide (coterminous with the state's sole congressional district) in order to be considered viable. The 14 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention will be allocated proportionally on the basis of the results of the primary. Of the 15 pledged delegates, 9 are district delegates allocated in proportion to the statewide result and another 2 are allocated to party leaders and elected officials (PLEO delegates), in addition to 4 at-large pledged delegates. These delegate totals do not account for pledged delegate bonuses or penalties from timing or clustering.[4]
Following the primary, precinct and house district caucuses will meet on Saturday, April 18, 2020, to designate delegates for the state convention on Saturday, May 16, 2020, which elects delegates to the convention, including 4 unpledged PLEO delegates (4 members of the Democratic National Committee).[4]
