Alaska Democrats sue over issues with rural voting sites

The Alaska Democratic Party filed a lawsuit Friday claiming that election officials failed to properly operate at least 18 rural voting locations ahead of Tuesday’s election. The Midnight Sun Independence Fund, a political nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., lodged a similar lawsuit on Thursday. Both filed in Anchorage Superior Court, the lawsuits alleged that the Division of Elections failed to open sites that it had designated for voters to fill out absentee ballots in person. Absentee and early voting in Alaska began on Oct. 19.

The locations either failed to open, opened late, had irregular hours, or lacked ballots, according to the lawsuits. Some sites had staffing shortages and high staff turnover, the lawsuits added. This has violated the Alaska Constitution’s guarantees of the right to vote, and the lawsuits ask that the sites be opened and operated fully immediately. A hearing for the Midnight Sun’s lawsuit was set for later Monday.

Why are these voting locations needed? In Alaska, ballot-casting has historically been difficult in rural areas as some voters have to travel by boat or plane to sites, the lawsuits said. Around 82% of Alaska’s communities are not connected by roads and are instead connected mostly by aircraft. Several thousand voters across the predominantly Alaska Native communities could be disenfranchised, the lawsuits alleged. In the past, some election results in Alaska have been decided by several thousand votes.

Has anyone else voiced these concerns? State Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, voiced similar concerns in a letter earlier this month to elections officials. Alaska’s elections director, Carol Beecher, responded that 12 of the 18 “absentee-in-person” sites had confirmed they were open. Three declined to open, and state officials were still in the process of contacting the remaining three. She emphasized that the state elections office signs agreements with the local or tribal offices that operate such sites.

In August, several Alaska Native voting advocacy groups urged election officials to ensure that rural voting sites had adequate staffing.

Dig deeper: Read Elizabeth Black’s report on Alaska’s investigation into whether Democrats intentionally manipulated the state’s U.S. Senate race by placing two Sullivans on the ballot.