A one-word change to Alaska's voting law could foreclose a path for American Samoan residents

Alaska voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to add the word "only" to the state's voter qualification law — a change its sponsor calls a narrow safeguard and its opponents call a door quietly closing on a specific group of Alaskans: American Samoans.

The measure would change "citizens may vote" to specify that only citizens can. At a state hearing Wednesday, sponsor and former House Speaker Mike Chenault called it a narrow fix that wouldn't touch voter ID rules or election mechanics. He pointed to jurisdictions elsewhere — including a since-withdrawn Los Angeles proposal — that have moved to allow noncitizen voting in local elections, and said the current law doesn't explicitly bar it. "The current law says citizens may vote. It does not specifically say that only citizens can vote. This initiative fixes that," he said.

Rep. Andrew Gray, giving the opposition statement, argued the measure solves a problem that doesn't exist while creating a real one. Noncitizen voting is already illegal in Alaska, he said — and pointed to the proof: in 2023, 11 people in Whittier were arrested for voting. They were American Samoans, who carry U.S. passports as American nationals but are not automatically citizens. Alaska has the second-largest American Samoan population of any state, behind Hawaii, and Gray said he wants the option to someday file legislation letting those residents vote in local and school board elections. The measure would foreclose that without a change in federal law first.

That stake was personal for some who testified. Tama Solanoa, an American Samoan U.S. national speaking for herself, said the measure "ties their hands and prevents them from ameliorating a huge injustice." Others backed the measure firmly: Avi Fontenberry, who described his own path from a Brazilian-born green card holder to a naturalized citizen, said the rigor of that process is what gives the ballot its meaning. A Wasilla resident said she simply doesn't want noncitizens voting. A Homer resident called it "a waste of money and a waste of voters' time," citing a cost above $114,000.

Public testimony was split, and the initiative can't be amended before the vote.