Alaska Native Villages Face Election Without Promised Voting Sites
Summary
A lawsuit says at least 18 rural Alaska communities, many Alaska Native villages, lacked advertised in-person voting sites during the early-voting period. The case asks an Alaska court to order the sites open and was scheduled for a hearing less than a day before Election Day.Key Facts
- The lawsuit, filed Oct. 29 in Anchorage Superior Court, names Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, Elections Director Carol Beecher and the Division of Elections.
- The complaint says at least 18 listed sites were not operating during the week of Oct. 19, when in-person voting began.
- The named communities include Nanwalek, Gambell, Holy Cross, Mountain Village and Toksook Bay.
- A crowd-sourced tracker reported Nanwalek’s site opened Oct. 30, but Newsweek said it could not independently confirm the opening date.
- The complaint says some local election officials did not receive ballots or instructions, while others received materials but no training.
- In an Oct. 26 letter, Beecher said 12 sites had confirmed they were open, three had declined to open and three had not responded, according to the complaint.
- A separate suit filed by the Alaska Democratic Party and rural lawmakers argues that closures may violate a federal agreement requiring Yup’ik language assistance in parts of Western Alaska.
- In rural Alaska, absentee in-person voting lets voters cast ballots locally that are sealed and counted later; the complaint says 18,158 people voted this way in 2024.
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