Alaska’s Elections Belong to Alaskans.

What happened to the Constitution and States’ Rights?

I’ve been in Alaska long enough to remember the days when Alaskans were fiercely protective of their personal rights and freedoms. In 1972, Alaskans voted 86% to 14% to add an explicit right to privacy to the state constitution. Remember when “Pot got more votes than Hickel” (1990)?

But something has happened in Alaska. Instead of a healthy distrust of politicians and federal government interference, many Alaskans seem to be indifferent to federal oversight and involvement in our elections today. Why?

Have Alaskans changed their minds about federal power, or are we just comfortable with it when it serves the politicians and the political parties we support?

In December 2025, the Alaska Division of Elections sent the DOJ its full voter list, including addresses voters had marked confidential. This information included names, birth dates, home addresses, and driver’s license numbers or the last four digits of Social Security numbers, as well as party affiliation and voting history. Many states refused. Thirty states (to date) plus the District of Columbia were sued, and the DOJ has lost every lower-court ruling at this point. The agreement allowed the DOJ to share the information with a private contractor and store it outside DOJ control.

The outcry was split along party lines.

Now, just before the November 2026 election, the DOJ has sued the state to block certification of a potential Peltola win, claiming the second Sullivan is a frivolous candidate running only to confuse voters and help Peltola. Alaska’s own courts already examined that claim and rejected it. A Superior Court judge found the evidence did not support it, and the Alaska Supreme Court upheld that ruling in June. President Trump took personal responsibility for the Alaska lawsuit: “I’m the one who said, ‘do it.’”

Does the DOJ really believe Alaskans can’t tell the difference between two candidates with similar names when one is listed as the Republican incumbent and one has no party affiliation? Does the federal government now want to control every election by examining the personal motivations for someone to run for office? How about the felon also running as a Democrat in this year’s House election? Why isn’t the DOJ concerned about his motivation? Does party affiliation have something to do with the DOJ’s concerns?

Alaskans still vote on paper ballots counted by tabulators that are never connected to the internet during voting. The transmission that occurs for results is encrypted between the voting centers and the Division of Elections. In 2020, a hand count of every machine-counted ballot was done to check the validity of Ballot Measure 2 results. The hand count matched the machine count within 24 votes. By linking our voter rolls to our PFD processes, we have even tighter control of voter eligibility. While improvements can always be made, there is no indication that Alaskans should doubt the accuracy of our elections.

A final question for me is whether the President of the United States can control our elections. The US Constitution is pretty clear that the states set the rules for elections under the authority of Congress. Yet, in August 2025, President Trump declared that “the States are merely an ‘agent’ for the Federal Government” in counting and tabulating votes, and he said they must follow the federal government, as represented by the president. I wonder what will happen if future presidents follow the same approach. Are Alaskans willing to let the executive branch intervene in our elections, no matter which party is in power?

I miss the Alaska whose healthy distrust of Washington didn’t depend on who was in the White House. Alaska’s elected officials should defend our personal privacy and our right to choose our own representatives without interference from the federal executive branch or the political party of those in power at the time. The Lt. Governor oversees Alaska’s elections. Think about that as you cast your vote this November.

Editor’s Note: This is an opinion piece. The views expressed are solely the editor’s and do not represent the views of any organization.