Alaskans don't have a right to correct errors on absentee ballots, state judge rules
Lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska, the Native American Rights Fund and the firm Perkins Coie sued the state in 2022, arguing that the lack of a process to fix defective by-mail ballots violated the Alaska Constitution.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the League of Women Voters, the Arctic Village Council and two individual Alaska voters who said their rights were violated because they did not have an opportunity to correct mistakes on their ballots, which meant their votes weren't counted.
Anchorage Superior Court Judge Yvonne Lamoureux ruled against the plaintiffs on Friday. She said in her 32-page ruling that the state's requirements for absentee voters "impose only a limited burden on the right to vote."
The lawsuit followed the state's first by-mail election in 2022. Almost 7,500 absentee ballots were rejected, with a greater proportion of those rejected ballots coming from parts of the state where Alaska Natives make up a majority of the population.
Two-thirds of those rejected ballots were for mistakes made on envelopes containing the ballots.
Alaskans need to have identification information on their ballot envelope; a witness needs to watch the voter sign the envelope, and the witness then needs to sign it themselves.
In 2022, the leading cause of rejected ballots was for the lack of a witness signature on ballot envelopes. The Alaska Division of Elections recently reported a similar trend in the 2024 general election.
Two-thirds of states have processes in place that allow voters to correct errors with their absentee ballots to ensure their votes get counted, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Those processes are known as "ballot curing."
Leaders of the bipartisan Alaska House and Senate majorities expect election reform to be a major topic of discussion this legislative session. Both legislative chambers have measures before them to implement ballot curing in state law, and to eliminate the witness signature requirement.
Meghan Barker, a spokesperson for the ACLU of Alaska, said the organization was unsure on Monday whether it would appeal Friday's decision to the Alaska Supreme Court. Barker said the ACLU was planning on working with the Legislature this year to approve a ballot curing process in Alaska law.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Alaska to take center stage at Trump-Putin summit
Alaska will take a rare step into the spotlight as it plays host to the high-stakes summit between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, creating a key backdrop for a meeting the administration hopes will open a path towards ending the Ukraine war. The 49th state has usually taken a place on the periphery of U.S. national politics, especially in recent years. But the setting here is notable as Trump and Putin descend on the former Russian colony for a meeting the former has long sought as part of his promises to end the fighting in Eastern Europe. Alaskans believe it is fitting that talks between the two nations will come to their shores. 'You can see the impact of Russian colonialism on Alaska to this day,' said Brandon Boylan, a political science professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. 'If President Trump was going to host President Putin in the U.S. and it wasn't going to be at the White House, I'm actually not surprised it's here in Alaska, given the very rich history that Alaska has between the two states,' Boylan said. Despite its far-flung location, Alaska has played host to a number of key meetings throughout the years, headlined most recently by talks in 2021 between the Biden administration and Chinese officials that were punctuated by heated back-and-forths and angry words. In 1984, former President Reagan met with Pope John Paul II in Fairbanks amid the push to defeat the Soviet Union. Former President Nixon also met with Emperor Hirohito of Japan in 1971 in Anchorage. But the upcoming sit-down with Putin may take the cake as most high-profile, given the lengthy history between Alaska and Russia. The first Russian settlers arrived in Alaska during the 18th century, with the Russian Empire laying claim to it starting in 1732. Alaska eventually became part of what was known as Russian America in 1799. Eventually, Alexander II sold Alaska to the U.S. for $7.2 million over fears that it would be conquered and taken over by the British. The sale was routinely mocked in Russian culture well into the 20th century as Alaskan riches and natural resources only became clear in the years after. Its roughly 50-mile proximity to Russia coupled with important roles on numerous fronts, including energy, puts Alaska in a prime spot to host the summit. 'No other place plays a more vital role in our national defense, energy security, and Arctic leadership,' Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) wrote on the social platform X. 'It's fitting that discussions of global importance take place here. For centuries, Alaska has been a bridge between nations, and today, we remain a gateway for diplomacy, commerce, and security in one of the most critical regions on earth.' The venue choice also makes sense on a number of other fronts. The International Criminal Court has a warrant out for Putin's arrest stemming from the Ukraine war, but the U.S. does not recognize the court. The locale is also more straightforward for Putin, as it means he does not have to fly through potentially perilous parts of European airspace. 'Alaska is a beautiful state that is geographically convenient for both parties. It was an appropriate venue for President Trump to accept President Putin's request to meet,' a White House official told The Hill. How much of the two presidents Alaskans will be able to see beyond their aircraft arriving and departing is unclear. The meeting is expected to take place at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, which would be out of view from onlookers and likely protesters. However, the meeting also could have an outsized impact on Alaskans more broadly as sanctions placed on Russia have hit the state more acutely than numerous other states. 'The sanctions have not hurt Alaska directly, but the absence of communication and cooperation has,' former Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell (R) said in an interview. Treadwell specifically pointed to the changes in Russian fishing practices in the Bering Sea due in part to the sanctions, which have led to fewer and fewer fish turning up in the Yukon River in recent years, as one example. He also noted it's become more difficult for those in Alaska to enter Russia to visit family members in recent years. Those practices won't change until relations are normalized, and that is impossible without an end to the war, Treadwell said. 'It's the tail wagging the dog in geopolitics for us to complain about it,' Treadwell said. 'But Alaskans here are happy here that the president is making a bold move with this guy to say, 'Hey, how do we figure out peace?' That hasn't happened.' Boylan also pointed to the lasting signs of Russian influence across the state, particularly along the Aleutian Islands and in southeast Alaska where Russian settlements stood. There are also a number of Russian Orthodox churches, as well as a small Russian diaspora community. Notably, Putin's appearance in Anchorage will make him the first Russian leader to set foot in Alaska — a setting that was well received by top Moscow officials and the Russian state media. Vladimir Dzhabarov, a Russian senator, labeled the venue choice 'very wise,' adding it was 'very far from Ukraine.' Yuri Ushakov, Putin's aide on foreign affairs, also said in an audio message shared by the Kremlin on Telegram last week that the meeting's setting is 'quite logical for our delegation to simply fly across the Bering Strait and for such an important and anticipated summit of the leaders of the two countries to be held specifically in Alaska.' The big question, however, is what will eventually emerge from the meeting and whether it will be successful for Trump and the U.S. Little has been revealed about the talks outside of the city and that Trump and Putin plan to meet in a one-on-one setting. Trump also downplayed expectations in recent days, saying he is going to 'see what [Putin] has in mind,' and will 'probably in the first two minutes … know exactly whether or not a deal can get done.' That hasn't stopped some in the state from pondering the potential historical significance if it yields success and is a key step toward a conclusion of the war. 'I was joking earlier this week that if this actually ends up in peace, it would be nice to be known as the Alaska Accords — kind of like the Camp David Accords — or something like that, historically,' Treadwell said. The former lieutenant governor did acknowledge a downside, especially given Trump's previous sit-down with Putin — the 2018 meeting in Helsinki where he sided with the Russian leader over the FBI on whether the Kremlin meddled in the 2016 presidential election. 'I think that's a risk all of us are willing to take,' Treadwell said, pointing to the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 as an example. 'There's some people who think Kyoto was the best thing for the world in addressing climate change, and there's others who spit when they say the word 'Kyoto.'' 'One way or another, Kyoto's still a beautiful city in a wonderful place to visit,' he added. Brett Samuels contributed. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
The Hill
5 days ago
- The Hill
Alaska to take center stage at Trump-Putin summit
Alaska will take a rare step into the spotlight as it plays host to the high-stakes summit between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, creating a key backdrop for a meeting the administration hopes will open a path towards ending the Ukraine war. The 49th state has usually taken a place on the periphery of U.S. national politics, especially in recent years. But the setting here is notable as Trump and Putin descend on the former Russian colony for a meeting the former has long sought as part of his promises to end the fighting in Eastern Europe. Alaskans believe it is fitting that talks between the two nations will come to their shores. 'You can see the impact of Russian colonialism on Alaska to this day,' said Brandan Boylan, a political science professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. 'If President Trump was going to host President Putin in the U.S. and it wasn't going to be at the White House, I'm actually not surprised it's here in Alaska given the very rich history that Alaska has between the two states,' Boylan said. Despite its far-flung location, Alaska has played host to a number of key meetings throughout the years, headlined most recently by talks in 2021 between the Biden administration and Chinese officials that were punctuated by heated back-and-forths and angry words. In 1984, former President Reagan met with Pope John Paul II in Fairbanks amid the push to defeat the Soviet Union. Former President Nixon also met with Emperor Hirohito of Japan in 1971 in Anchorage. But the upcoming sit-down with Putin may take the cake as most high-profile given the lengthy history between Alaska and Russia. The first Russian settlers arrived in Alaska during the 18th Century, with the Russian Empire laying claim to it starting in 1732. Alaska eventually became part of what was known as Russian America in 1799. Eventually, Alexander II sold Alaska to the U.S. for $7.2 million over fears that it would be conquered and taken over by the British. The sale was routinely mocked in Russian culture well into the 20th Century as Alaskan riches and natural resources only became clear in the years after. Its roughly 50-mile proximity to Russia coupled with important roles on numerous fronts, including energy, puts Alaska in a prime spot to host the summit. 'No other place plays a more vital role in our national defense, energy security, and Arctic leadership,' Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) wrote on X. 'It's fitting that discussions of global importance take place here. For centuries, Alaska has been a bridge between nations, and today, we remain a gateway for diplomacy, commerce, and security in one of the most critical regions on earth.' The venue choice also makes sense on a number of other fronts. The International Criminal Court has a warrant out for Putin's arrest stemming from the Ukraine war, but the U.S. does not recognize the court. The locale is also more straight forward for Putin as it means he does not have to fly through potentially perilous parts of European airspace. 'Alaska is a beautiful state that is geographically convenient for both parties. It was an appropriate venue for President Trump to accept President Putin's request to meet,' a White House official told The Hill. How much of the two presidents Alaskans will be able to see beyond their aircrafts arriving and departing is unclear. The meeting is expected to take place at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, which would be out of view from onlookers and likely protesters. However, the meeting also could have an outsize impact on Alaskans more broadly as sanctions placed on Russia have hit the state more acutely than numerous other states. 'The sanctions have not hurt Alaska directly, but the absence of communication and cooperation has,' said former Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell (R) in an interview. Treadwell specifically pointed to the changes in Russian fishing practices in the Bering Sea due in part to the sanctions, which have led to fewer and fewer fish turning up in the Yukon River in recent years, as one example. He also noted that it's become more difficult for those in Alaska to enter Russia to visit family members in recent years. Those practices won't change until relations are normalized, and that is impossible without an end to the war, Treadwell said. 'It's the tail wagging the dog in geopolitics for us to complain about it,' Treadwell said. 'But Alaskans here are happy here that the president is making a bold move with this guy to say, 'Hey, how do we figure out peace?' That hasn't happened.' Boylan also pointed to the lasting signs of Russian influence across the state, particularly along the Aleution Islands and in southeast Alaska where Russian settlements stood. There are also a number of Russian Orthodox churches, as well as a small Russian diaspora community. Notably, Putin's appearance in Anchorage will make him the first Russian leader to set foot in Alaska — a setting that was well received by top Moscow officials and the Russian state media. Vladimir Dzhabarov, a Russian senator, labeled the venue choice 'very wise,' adding that it was 'very far from Ukraine.' Yuri Ushakov, Putin's aide on foreign affairs, also said in an audio message shared by the Kremlin on Telegram last week that the meeting's setting is 'quite logical for our delegation to simply fly across the Bering Strait and for such an important and anticipated summit of the leaders of the two countries to be held specifically in Alaska.' The big question, however, is what will eventually emerge from the meeting and whether it will be successful for Trump and the U.S. Little has been revealed about the talks outside of the city and that Trump and Putin plan to meet in a one-on-one setting. Trump also downplayed expectations in recent days, saying that he is going to 'see what [Putin] has in mind,' and will 'probably in the first two minutes … know exactly whether or not a deal can get done.' That hasn't stopped some in the state from pondering the potential historical significance if it yields success and is a key step towards a conclusion of the war. 'I was joking earlier this week that if this actually ends up in peace, it would be nice to be known as the Alaska Accords — kind of like the Camp David Accords — or something like that, historically,' Treadwell said. The former lieutenant governor did acknowledge a downside especially given Trump's previous sitdown with Putin — the 2018 meeting in Helsinki where he sided with the Russian leader over the FBI on whether the Kremlin meddled in the 2016 presidential election. 'I think that's a risk all of us are willing to take,' Treadwell said, pointing to the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 as an example. 'There's some people who think Kyoto was the best thing for the world in addressing climate change, and there's others who spit when they say the word 'Kyoto.'' 'One way or another, Kyoto's still a beautiful city in a wonderful place to visit,' he added.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
White House lands on Trump-Putin summit location as officials race to prepare for historic Alaska meeting
American officials scrambling this weekend to identify and lock down a venue for Friday's summit between President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart quickly discovered a major snag: summertime is peak tourist season in Alaska, and options both available and equipped to host the two world leaders were severely limited. When word reached certain prominent Alaskans that Trump and Putin were coming, a few began reaching out to the president's allies with a proposition: could their home be an option? It's unclear if those offers ever reached White House officials, who were calling sites in Juneau, the state capital, along with Anchorage and Fairbanks. Organizers of the summit soon came to believe the only city in the massive state with viable options for the summit would be Anchorage. And only Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, on the northern edge of the city, would meet the security requirements for the historic meeting, though the White House had hoped to avoid the optics of hosting the Russian leader and his entourage on a US military installation. That is where the two men will meet Friday, two White House officials said. The struggle underscored the rush now underway to nail down the details of Friday's meeting, the first time the top US and Russian leaders have met in more than four years. The summit is still largely a work in progress as US and Russian officials make haste to prepare for the high-profile encounter. The two countries' top diplomats — Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov — spoke Tuesday to discuss 'certain aspects of preparation,' according to Russia's foreign ministry. Usually, a high-stakes summit with a US adversary would be preceded by extensive negotiations over the agenda and outcomes. But Trump himself has said he is approaching the meeting as a 'feel-out' session, with few advance expectations for how it will proceed. The White House on Tuesday termed it a 'listening session.' 'The president feels like, 'look, I've got to look at this guy across the table. I need to see him face to face. I need to hear him one-on-one. I need to make an assessment by looking at him,'' Rubio said in a morning radio interview Tuesday with Sid Rosenberg, offering one explanation for why Trump's five known phone calls with Putin this year wouldn't suffice in determining the Russian leader's intentions. Landing on Alaska Trump's administration and the Kremlin landed on Alaska as the site for the summit after a lengthy behind-the-scenes back-and-forth, according to people familiar with the matter. There were few places that would work for the sit-down, the people said, particularly given a war crimes warrant issued for Putin's arrest by the International Criminal Court in 2023. With that fact looming, Russia balked at a European destination — even in a city like Vienna or Geneva, where US and Russian leaders have met dating back to the Cold War. While Putin himself raised the United Arab Emirates as an 'entirely suitable' location, many inside the White House hoped to avoid another lengthy trek to the Middle East after Trump's visit in May. In the end, sources said, it came down to Hungary — whose Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is close to both Trump and Putin — and the United States as possible hosts, according to two US officials. American officials were pleased and somewhat surprised when the Russian president agreed to a meeting on US soil — on land that once was part of the Russian empire, no less. 'I thought it was very respectful that the president of Russia is coming to our country as opposed to us going to his country or even a third-party place,' Trump said this week, as his team was rushing to finalize details of the summit. Others were not so taken. 'The only better place for Putin than Alaska would be if the summit were being held in Moscow,' said Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton, who fell out with Trump during his first term. 'So, the initial setup, I think, is a great victory for Putin.' Previous Putin meetings The last time an American president met with Putin — President Joe Biden's 2021 summit in Geneva — the date and venue were announced three weeks ahead of time. But the planning between Russian and American officials started months before that. Biden, on a week-long swing through Europe, spent the days leading up to the sit-down in intensive preparation with top advisers, blocking out time in the mornings to parse potential directions the conversation could take and anticipate some of Putin's moves. He consulted other leaders, including the German chancellor, for pointers on how to approach the notoriously wily Russian leader. By the time the summit arrived, aides had planned the day down to the most minute detail, including what order the leaders would arrive, how long each session would last and what type of flower would sit on the table (it was white roses). American officials even ensured there were bottles of orange Gatorade — labeled 'POTUS' — inside a refrigerator at the 18th-century villa where the meeting took place. During Trump's first term, he and Putin sat one-on-one in Helsinki, Finland, during a summit in 2018 that ended with a remarkable moment when Trump sided with Putin over US intelligence agencies on the question of Russian election interference. Trump also met Putin alone in 2017, during their first encounter at the G20 summit in Hamburg. Mystery over meeting's origins While American and Russian officials have been in extensive conversations to prepare for the sit-down since it was agreed to last week, the encounter that prompted the event remains something of a mystery. Trump's foreign envoy Steve Witkoff visited Moscow last Wednesday for a meeting with Putin that resulted in the decision to meet, though what exactly Putin said in the meeting is still largely unknown. European officials spent much of the last week trying to ascertain the parameters of a peace deal that Putin offered up, but some said they were frustrated by the lack of clarity offered by Witkoff, a real estate developer and longtime friend of Trump's. Trump plans to hear from European leaders and Ukraine in a virtual meeting on Wednesday, arranged by the Germans so the president can get their perspective ahead of the Friday meeting. And he has promised to get on the phone with them, along with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, immediately after the summit concludes. But Zelensky isn't expected to be in Alaska for the summit, so any potential trilateral meeting is off the table for now. Instead, Trump will spend at least part of the summit meeting with Putin one-on-one, the White House said Tuesday, allowing time for the two men to carry out a discussion unheard by anyone else aside from their translators. 'That's part of the plan,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said when asked whether the two presidents would meet as a pair. 'As for the other mechanics and logistics, I will let our team speak to that when they're ironed out.' It's not atypical for leaders to meet alone with their counterparts, but Trump and Putin's relationship has been the subject of intense scrutiny. And during Trump's first term, even senior officials said they sometimes were left in the dark about what was discussed when aides were left out. In Trump's previous two meetings with Putin, both encounters included translators, but not high-ranking aides. After the Germany meeting, Trump reportedly asked his translator for his notes. For his part, Putin has spent the days ahead of Friday's meeting placing phone calls to his remaining global allies — including some who have staged their own high-profile summits with Trump. That included North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, the Kremlin said Tuesday, who met three times with Trump during his first term, but still hasn't abandoned his nuclear weapons. This article has been updated with additional information
