[gfunk911]

Do we know for a fact the breakdown of 2nd choices on ballots where Palin was the first choice? If not, you are only speculating.

It seems possible that Palin lost due to voters incorrectly expressing their preferences by not putting a 2nd choice. If that is a routine thing, then it is indeed a problem with ranked choice voting in the real world, but it is NOT a structural flaw as you are claiming.

[supreme_loquat]

Yes, the cast vote record has been released, and Begich wins the head to head vs both Palin and Peltota. [1] is a nice writeup on the election (highly recommend the What's Interesting header if you don't have time for the whole thing) and [2] is a link to the released ballot data.

[1] https://electionscience.org/commentary-analysis/rcv-fools-pa...

[2] https://www.elections.alaska.gov/election-results/e/?id=22pr...