Alaska Drops Felony Voter Charges Against Samoans
Alaska Drops Felony Voter Charges Against Samoans
The News
Alaska prosecutors are dropping voter misconduct cases against 11 American Samoans who checked the "U.S. citizen" box on voter registration forms, after a state appeals court threw out the felony charges in the lead case.
The 11 are residents of Whittier, a town roughly 50 miles southeast of Anchorage.
A three-judge appeals panel held that Alaska's voter misconduct law requires proof of a "consciousness of wrongdoing" — and prosecutors did not have it.
Acting Attorney General Cori Mills said the state could not prove the cases beyond a reasonable doubt.
Why It Matters
American Samoa is the only U.S. territory where birth does not automatically confer citizenship. People born there are U.S. nationals: they can serve in the military, but they cannot vote in most U.S. elections or hold federal office. Naturalization is available, but it can be costly and complicated.
Timeline
Tupe Smith, one of the Whittier residents, said city officials told her that marking "citizen" was appropriate because the registration form offered no option for "national."
Alaska charged 11 American Samoans living in Whittier with voter misconduct over the citizenship box, with Smith's case leading the way.
A three-judge Alaska Court of Appeals panel threw out the felony charges against Smith, finding the statute demands proof that a registrant knew what she was doing was wrong.
Prosecutors moved to drop the remaining cases against the group.
Reactions
Acting Attorney General Cori Mills said prosecutors could not prove the cases beyond a reasonable doubt under the standard the appeals court set.
Smith has said city officials advised her that checking "citizen" was the right move when the form gave her no "national" box to check.
Neil Weare, co-director of the Right to Democracy Project, said the dismissal raises the question of why the prosecution was brought at all.
What's Next
The appeals court's "consciousness of wrongdoing" standard now governs how Alaska applies its voter misconduct statute in future cases.
Two open questions remain: why Whittier city officials advised American Samoans to check the citizen box, and whether anyone is held accountable for that advice.
Other states handling registration cases involving U.S. nationals may face the same argument the Alaska panel accepted.
More
The dispute turns on a gap in the paperwork, not on any allegation of an organized scheme. Registration forms in Alaska asked applicants to affirm U.S. citizenship; U.S. nationals from American Samoa had no accurate box to check, and the residents who checked "citizen" said they were following guidance from local officials.
The cases were covered by the Associated Press and carried by The Washington Times, The Independent and Yahoo News, with no factual dispute between the accounts.
Poll
Should the Whittier residents have been prosecuted at all?
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