Andrew Gray
14:23 - 14:56
“In 2023, when Tupe Smith and Whittier was encouraged to run for school board by teachers at the school where she volunteered, um, and then was elected, it wasn't because she thought she was exploiting a loophole. The folks didn't understand that they couldn't vote. American Samoans didn't know. And at the time, neither did the Anchorage Elections Office nor the Division of Elections itself when people were seeking clarity on this issue, if they could vote.”
- Speaker
- Andrew Gray
- Timestamp
- 14:23 – 14:56
- Community
- Alaska News
- Location
- Alaska
From the transcript
In 2023, when Tupe Smith and Whittier was encouraged to run for school board by teachers at the school where she volunteered, um, and then was elected, it wasn't because she thought she was exploiting a loophole. The folks didn't understand that they couldn't vote. American Samoans didn't know. And at the time, neither did the Anchorage Elections Office nor the Division of Elections itself when people were seeking clarity on this issue, if they could vote. There— people didn't know.
Related Coverage
A one-word change to Alaska's voting law could foreclose a path for American Samoan residents
Measure 3 would add "only" to Alaska's voter law — a narrow safeguard, its sponsor says. Opponents note noncitizen voting is already illegal and say it would foreclose a path for American Samoan residents, U.S. nationals who aren't automatically citizens.
