
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."
“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.”
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.
Alaska's Ballot Measure 3 would specify only citizens can vote. Supporters call it a safeguard; opponents say it forecloses a path for American Samoan U.S. nationals to vote locally.
