5 election stories and issues we're watching this fall

It's extremely easy to get overwhelmed during election season. Between the political ads that show up in droves to our mailboxes, the recurring phone calls from unknown "907" numbers, the never-ending news cycle of political drama, and of course, making a plan to vote, the important information can be hard to parse out.

We must remember that voter silencing efforts by the Trump Administration, including creating confusion and making inaccurate claims about immigrants voting, is a right-wing tactic to sow doubt about an election they know they're losing. We must remain vigilant, and we must turn out to vote in November across Alaska.

We've broken down the top five election stories and issues we're watching this fall in Alaska so that you can stay engaged.

In May 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice issued demands for full, unredacted voter rolls from almost every state and the District of Columbia in an effort to create an unauthorized national voter database. The State of Alaska agreed to share confidential information including the full name, date of birth, residential address, state driver’s license number, or the last four digits of the voter’s social security number. However, this sensitive information violates the privacy rights of Alaskans.

The ACLU of Alaska, with ACLU’s Voting Rights Project and Electronic Privacy Information Center, filed a lawsuit earlier this spring on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Alaska, Alaska Black Caucus, and Alaska Public Interest Research Group. It argues that the DOE’s disclosure of sensitive voter information violated Alaskans’ constitutional right to privacy and that the Division’s commitment to the Department of Justice regarding future list maintenance conflicts with Alaska law and the Alaska Constitution.

The State of Alaska filed to dismiss this lawsuit, but we aren't backing down. ACLU of Alaska attorneys will be in court this week to argue why this case must continue. You can tune in and watch oral arguments on Wednesday, September 16th at 3:30 PM here.

In June, the DOE sent letters to more than 3,000 registered voters, notifying them that the Division had received information from the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) that they may not be citizens, and requesting that they confirm their citizenship status. Elections Director Carol Beecher, despite admitting that some of the DMV information may be outdated, inactivated the voter registration of all Alaskans on the DMV list.

Shockingly, the DOE failed to inform impacted voters that their registration was moved to “inactive” status, the potential impacts or legal consequences of either responding or failing to respond to the letter, and that recipients would be required to vote a questioned ballot as an “inactive” voter if they were not restored to the active voter list before the upcoming primary election.

The ACLU of Alaska sent a notice to the Lieutenant Governor and Director Beecher in August to inform them that their actions were unconstitutional and violated federal law. We've released guidance for voters who received this letter, and want to hear from Alaskans who had issues voting during the August primary election, or in the upcoming general election.

TLDR: Nothing has changed with mail-in-voting.

On March 31, 2026, President Trump signed an unconstitutional anti-voter executive order entitled “Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections.” This latest anti-voter order directs the federal government to compile “state citizenship lists” based on incomplete federal data and seeks to improperly insert the federal government, including the United States Postal Service (USPS), into state election administration.

These actions, including attempting to make USPS the gatekeeper of states’ mail-in balloting, would create chaos in election administration and lead to the disenfranchisement of many eligible voters who depend on mail voting. Since the President cannot unilaterally change election laws, this Executive Order does not change mail/absentee voting rules which are set by states, including Alaska. The ACLU, ACLU of Massachusetts, and partners filed a lawsuit challenging this order on April 2, 2026.

Despite back-and-forth rulings in the courts, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay on September 4th in the case, meaning it does not authorize the USPS to implement the executive order.

Attempts to end mail-in voting are part of President Trump’s larger strategy to remove checks on presidential power by making it harder for voters to hold leaders accountable at the ballot box. Mail-in voting is especially vital for Alaskans in rural areas, and people with disabilities, elders, and voters without reliable access to transportation. Ending it would disenfranchise communities that already face barriers to voting.

Tupe Smith, who was born in American Samoa and lives in Whittier, was charged with first-degree voter misconduct after identifying herself as a U.S. citizen on voter registration paperwork that did not provide an option for “U.S. national” in 2023. Smith told investigators that local election officials had instructed her to check the U.S. citizen box and that she did not know she was ineligible to vote.
American Samoa is the only place in the United States where people are not automatically recognized as U.S. citizens at birth by the federal government. Congress labels them as “non-citizen U.S. nationals” - owing permanent allegiance to the United States but not having the same rights and privileges as others born on U.S. soil, including the right to vote.
Ms. Smith's arrest, as well as the subsequent charges against ten other U.S. nationals for illegally voting in local and state elections, caused shockwaves through the Whittier and American Samoan communities in Alaska. Last week, the Alaska Court of Appeals reversed a lower court ruling and clarified that an individual must have a consciousness of wrongdoing in making a false sworn statement to face criminal charges under Alaska's voter misconduct statute. Because the grand jury that initially indicted Ms. Smith received inaccurate instructions and inaccurate testimony regarding Ms. Smith’s statements, the Court dismissed the indictment.
On Friday, the Department of Law announced that it would drop the cases against the ten other American Samoans who had been charged with voter misconduct.

In nearly every state election over the past 13 years, we’ve seen the Alaska Division of Elections fail to ensure that Alaskans from every community in the state have the opportunity to cast a ballot and have it counted. These deficiencies are most frequently documented in rural Alaska, including failing to provide native language assistance, ballots not being fully counted, and polling stations failing to open in rural precincts. After the primary election in August, the Division of Elections claimed that they were able to open all polling stations across the state. However, at least two polling stations in rural Alaska opened late, giving voters a limited opportunity to cast their ballot.

Failure to open polling stations in Alaska disproportionately impacts rural and Alaska Native voters. Our partners at Get Out the Native Vote are working hard to ensure that all polling stations open on time and give every eligible Alaskan the opportunity to vote. We'll be watching the Division of Elections during the November election to ensure that it upholds its duty to conduct free and fair elections across the state.

Alaska's elections and voting landscape is rapidly changing, and we are sure that there will be more actions to look out for leading up to, and after, the November election. We're committed to ensuring that every eligible Alaskans can cast their ballot and have it counted. Stay tuned for more on elections and voting in Alaska.