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Alaska election officials scramble after routine voter check explodes from 200 names to 3,048

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BS BRIEF:

  • Alaska election officials have confirmed that 3,048 registered voters were moved to inactive status and sent citizenship-verification letters after a records comparison produced roughly 15 times the number of cases normally flagged. Officials have not determined that those voters are noncitizens and believe outdated DMV information may explain many of the mismatches.
  • A newly released DMV memo described the Elections Division’s citizenship-data request as “nonroutine.” Elections officials supplied approximately 15,200 DMV applicants for review, and the DMV returned records in which its latest recorded status was something other than “Citizen.”
  • The review comes just weeks before Alaska’s August 18 primary and amid an ongoing lawsuit challenging the state’s decision to share sensitive voter information with the Trump Justice Department. Elections Director Carol Beecher insists the two matters are unrelated, telling lawmakers: “It has nothing to do with that.”

ALASKA FLAGS MORE THAN 3,000 VOTERS IN CITIZENSHIP-RECORDS MESS BEFORE PRIMARY

Alaska election officials have moved 3,048 registered voters to the state’s inactive list and asked them to confirm their U.S. citizenship after an unusually broad records check uncovered conflicting information between the state’s voter rolls and motor-vehicle database.

The number immediately raised eyebrows because similar voter-list reviews ordinarily produce only about 200 names requiring additional examination. This time, the total was more than 15 times higher—and state officials still cannot say precisely why.

Alaska Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher told lawmakers that the dramatic increase apparently resulted from stale information being pulled from the Division of Motor Vehicles.

“We believe that when we did the match, that a lot of old data was picked up somehow,” Beecher said. “So we’re still ferreting through that.”

The affected voters received letters informing them that they had declared themselves U.S. citizens when they initially registered to vote but that the Elections Division had subsequently received information suggesting otherwise.

“You are a registered voter who indicated you were a citizen of the United States on your initial voter registration application,” the notice states. “We have since received information from the Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles that you may not be a citizen.”

The letters do not establish that all—or even most—of the recipients are noncitizens. Elections officials say naturalized Americans may have been caught in the sweep because they obtained a driver’s license before becoming citizens and never updated the citizenship status attached to their DMV files.

“I believe that people probably don’t realize that all of these governmental entities don’t necessarily talk to each other,” Beecher told lawmakers.

That may be true, but the latest disclosures show this was not an ordinary automated comparison.

In a memo released Thursday, the DMV described the Elections Division’s request as “nonroutine.” The agency said election officials supplied a list of approximately 15,200 driver’s-license and identification-card applicants in March and asked the DMV to return citizenship information associated with those records.

The DMV responded with records for people whose latest confirmed status in its system was something other than “Citizen.” Elections officials followed up in June seeking clarification before mailing the notices and changing the voters’ status.

The Elections Division initially estimated that approximately 3,500 letters had been sent. Spokesperson Steve Kirch later provided the more precise total of 3,048.

Recipients may confirm their citizenship by mail, telephone or email. They are not currently being required to provide a passport, birth certificate or naturalization papers.

Once a voter affirms citizenship, the registration can be returned to active status. Someone who does not respond before Election Day may still cast a questioned ballot and affirm under penalty that he or she meets Alaska’s voting qualifications. Election officials would review that ballot before determining whether it should be counted.

Beecher rejected claims that the process automatically prevents anyone from voting. “It is not disenfranchising the individual from being able to vote,” she said, “but it’s a measure the division has to take to make sure that we only have citizens voting.”

The essential point is worth stating clearly: Alaska has not announced the discovery of 3,048 illegal voters. It has discovered 3,048 conflicts between two government record systems and is now attempting to determine which records are accurate.

State Rep. Andrew Gray, an Anchorage Democrat, said the people who had contacted his office after receiving the notices appeared to be legitimate U.S. citizens. The Alaska Beacon also reported that some recipients had been erroneously flagged because of outdated records.

The timing has intensified scrutiny because Alaska is already embroiled in a legal battle over its agreement to provide detailed voter information to the Trump administration’s Justice Department.

State Rep. Ashley Carrick, a Democrat, asked Beecher whether the citizenship letters were connected to that federal data-sharing arrangement. “It has nothing to do with that,” Beecher replied. “The information that we have received is specifically from DMV,” she added, saying the Elections Division had not received a Justice Department list identifying suspected noncitizens.

Earlier this year, the League of Women Voters of Alaska and the Alaska Black Caucus sued state officials, arguing that providing the federal government with unredacted voter records violated Alaska’s constitutional privacy protections. The shared information reportedly included names, birth dates, addresses, driver’s-license information and partial Social Security numbers.

The state has defended the agreement as a lawful exchange of information between government agencies. The lawsuit remains pending.

The voter-status controversy is happening less than a month before Alaska’s August 18 primary, putting pressure on election officials to sort legitimate discrepancies from outdated paperwork without confusing or inconveniencing eligible voters.

For now, anyone who received a letter is being urged to contact the Elections Division, affirm citizenship and verify that the registration has been restored to active status.

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