Video Clips
Quoted moments from Alaska public meetings, hearings, and press conferences.
Clips from Alaska House Judiciary CommitteeClear
1:21
Ashley Carrick“I think that the Division of Elections, having Dan J. Sullivan back on the ballot in this particular situation, has responded appropriately to the Supreme Court decision, but I'm still concerned that the amount of information that voters would like to see and that candidates would like to have on their ballot creates a precedence that is not necessarily in the greatest interest of transparency.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260722-1300 · Jul 22, 2026
0:43
Andrew Gray“in the email from Daniel J. Sullivan to the Lieutenant Governor on June 10th, he states, quote, 'Like the incumbent, I also go by Dan. I have publicly gone by Dan Sullivan as long as I can remember,' end quote. So my question is, why must he be listed as Daniel, but the U.S. senator will be listed as Dan.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260722-1300 · Jul 22, 2026
0:38
Carol Beecher“we have been doing this for a while as part of the voter list maintenance. However, this was a larger list than we had anticipated, as well. So it was very concerning, but this is the process that we do we move— if we get a list of individuals from DMV, which usually is more like 200 names, then we send those individuals the notices, same letter, and ask them to confirm their citizenship. And again, they can do that by email, they can call us.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260722-1300 · Jul 22, 2026
0:31
Carol Beecher“we are under the National Voter Registration Act, which does not allow the division to do really an investigation or to require documentation regarding citizenship. We go by the oath and affirmation. So when we get information like this, that's why it seems probably very simple on its face that all they have to do is contact us. That's all they have to do is let us know. And then we go by their oath and affirmation on the last registration that we have.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260722-1300 · Jul 22, 2026
0:58
Carol Beecher“Evidence in the record showed that Mr. Sullivan had never previously used Dan Sullivan in state records. He had never affiliated before as a Republican in 40 years of Alaska voter history. His campaign website mirrored the incumbent's website design and branding, and he requested by email to appear as Dan S. Sullivan despite his middle initial being Gene J., even though he later corrected this himself.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260722-1300 · Jul 22, 2026
0:10
Carol Beecher“This was an unprecedented and unique situation, and to my knowledge, this has not occurred before. We also do not anticipate it would happen again.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260722-1300 · Jul 22, 2026
0:37
Carol Beecher“This unprecedented and challenging situation arose when two candidates, incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan and Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., requested to appear on the ballot with identical names and party designations, indicating that Mr. Sullivan intended to confuse voters, creating the risk that voters would, in fact, be confused.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260722-1300 · Jul 22, 2026
0:51
Carol Beecher“The Supreme Court specifically chose not to adopt the portion of the Superior Court's decision as to how the names should appear on the ballot, and that left the decision to the discretion of the Division. The Division distinguished between the two candidates by using Mr. Sullivan's full name, omitting his party affiliation and adding the incumbent designation for Senator Sullivan. This was done to maximize the differentiation between these candidates so that we, we did not want any voters to be confused between the two candidates.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260722-1300 · Jul 22, 2026
0:25
Ky Holland“My first question was the same question that Chair Carrick just asked, so I'm just going to go straight to the follow-up because I had the same concern about connecting the dots between the data that was released and how that was maybe going to be used, and maybe this was a manifestation of what we were all concerned about was that that would happen.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260722-1300 · Jul 22, 2026
0:46
Ashley Carrick“you've been given a list of people that are considered potentially non-citizens and therefore by law are not eligible to be registered to vote. So you're saying all they have to do is contact you and say, yes, I'm a citizen, or no, I'm not a citizen, and that's all you do. But at what point do you say, well, it says the evidence that I have indicates that they are not a citizen and then make that referral for further investigation to the Department of Law, the Attorney General's Office, to find out if they are breaking the law?”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260722-1300 · Jul 22, 2026
0:33
Carol Beecher“The Division does not have a responsibility to specific candidates. It has a responsibility to the voters to make sure that the voter intent is clear, that we protect the integrity of the electoral process, and that we prevent purposeful manipulation of the ballot.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260722-1300 · Jul 22, 2026
0:46
Carol Beecher“currently what we do is if we see that someone has voted and is listed as a noncitizen and doesn't respond back to us, then we would refer that to the Department of Law. If we have someone who is a— has been identified as a noncitizen, they're registered to vote, but they haven't voted— or I said that backwards. So, if somebody is not a citizen, got registered, but didn't vote, We would not refer that, but I don't have a good answer for you. If you could send that to me in writing, then I can provide you with a much more full answer for that.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260722-1300 · Jul 22, 2026
0:39
Carol Beecher“It is, it is not an onerous request from the division to simply contact us and confirm, and that is what we have asked them to do. We don't require paperwork, we're not requiring documentation, nothing like that. And if they call us and say they are a registered voter because I do know we're within that 30 days prior to an election for registration purposes, then we go back to their previous filing as the date so that for sure they are registered and will be on the registrar.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260722-1300 · Jul 22, 2026
0:41
Carol Beecher“On this last time that we ran our list by the Department of Motor Vehicles, we received a large number of individuals had been indicated as noncitizens.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260722-1300 · Jul 22, 2026
0:16
Ashley Carrick“isn't it already illegal for a noncitizen simply to register to vote?”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260722-1300 · Jul 22, 2026
0:39
Carol Beecher“the division continually works to make sure that the voter rolls are clear and only have legitimate registered voters on them. If we get information from a verified source and DMV collects information on citizenship, then the division must act on that, and to not act means that potentially these individuals would end up on the voter register and vote a ballot and not be a citizen.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260722-1300 · Jul 22, 2026
0:40
Ashley Carrick“you mentioned that they simply have to tell you yes or no. That they are or are not a citizen, and then you'll move them back to active status.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260722-1300 · Jul 22, 2026
1:20
Ky Holland“how should we think about this question of whether someone is presumed to be a valid voter or presumed to be an invalid voter? It seems like in this case, and you've referred to him, I think, as kind of a trusted source, or indication, but it raises to me this fundamental question of can we trust that the voter rolls are good, or if anybody makes some allegation that there's some concerns with it, do we immediately take the position that they need to be removed from the active roll and placed into some sort of suspect category.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260722-1300 · Jul 22, 2026
0:19
Andrew Gray“Can you give us a ballpark figure about how many letters went out? I— my ballpark is around 3,500.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260722-1300 · Jul 22, 2026
0:28
Carol Beecher“it's very clear that we have not heard from the DOJ regarding any list— or the list that we provided, that they identified noncitizens on that. We have not heard back from them.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260722-1300 · Jul 22, 2026
0:27
Andrew Gray“I'm curious if the Division of Elections has ever asked other candidates to respond to questions under oath. And this was a June 8th request to Dan J. Sullivan. Through the chair— Chair Gray, so you are referring to the request from the Lieutenant Governor's investigation? Yes, that is correct. The division has not requested that prior to my knowledge.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260722-1300 · Jul 22, 2026
0:38
Thomas Amodio“that was addressed in the Halfma case. Where he's never been to Alaska and all he has to do is show up one day before he's elected and he's a qualified candidate under federal law. That's my understanding. And even though he's imprisoned back, I thought it was New Jersey, but New York, makes no difference.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260622-1300 · Jun 22, 2026
0:29
Kevin McCabe“Director Beecher is saying he just can't be on the ballot. She is not making a judgment on whether or not Daniel J. Sullivan from Petersburg qualified to be a senator. She's making a judgment on whether or not, in her opinion, based on the AC 25-212, is he qualified to be on the ballot. Thornton didn't eliminate the state's ability to do that, did it?”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260622-1300 · Jun 22, 2026
0:36
Andrew Gray“Chair Carrick has agreed to excuse Lieutenant Governor Dahlstrom and Director Beecher from appearing today on the condition that they produce requested documents by July 20th and appear before this joint committee on July 22nd, 2026. The Lieutenant Governor has agreed to those conditions, and for that we are very grateful.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260622-1300 · Jun 22, 2026
0:37
Andrew Gray“If the Division lacked the authority to investigate one candidate's good faith in claiming residency, what gives it authority to investigate another candidate's motives for filing? If the Division could not independently determine a candidate's future intent to reside in Alaska in 2024, how can it independently determine a candidate's subjective intent to seek office in 2026?”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260622-1300 · Jun 22, 2026
0:38
Hollis French
“If a prisoner with no ties to the state of Alaska in New York State can be put on the ballot for federal office in the state of Alaska, I think the Division of Elections is sort of foreclosed from then on from, from engaging in what they've engaged in this case. I'll rely on my experience as a prosecutor and tell you it is extremely difficult, if not almost impossible, to prove someone's motive.”Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260622-1300 · Jun 22, 2026
0:31
Thomas Amodio“the Division has always taken the position it is not their job, it is not their duty— in cases I have been involved in, let me, let me, you know, put that caveat in there.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260622-1300 · Jun 22, 2026
0:44
Thomas Amodio“when I was involved with the Haffner case and I saw the case law generally out there for federal office, I was shocked that you could, I could run for a, a House of Representatives in Texas today by filing whatever Texas requires. And according to the case law and ultimately what was decided in that case, all I have to do is show up in Texas on the day of the election or the day before, and I'm an inhabitant of Texas.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260622-1300 · Jun 22, 2026
0:26
Thomas Amodio“Even the division's own regulations do not address good motives versus bad motives or that type of thing. I think it would be a very difficult sliding, slippery slope to navigate.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260622-1300 · Jun 22, 2026
0:46
Thomas Amodio“in my view, the Division's decision to exclude the second Dan Sullivan because his name is inconsistent with what the division has always done before and the positions it's taken in terms of, you know, it's up to the voters to decide, not, not the division.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260622-1300 · Jun 22, 2026
0:11
Thomas Amodio“They've got their playbook. They stick to it in terms of counting votes. And, you know, they follow the law. It's— they do a terrific, commendable job.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260622-1300 · Jun 22, 2026
0:51
Ashley Carrick“my biggest concern here is that if quote unquote good faith, as was stated in the memo from the Division of Elections, becomes an additional implicit standard for candidacy, Alaska will have added more than just an additional requirement. We will have functionally added a subjective standard for qualification to run for office determined by what is currently an apolitical body, which is an extremely strong contrast to the simple objective federal and state standards that are in place today.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260622-1300 · Jun 22, 2026
0:33
Thomas Amodio“no, I don't, I don't believe, uh, that that would be, uh, that, that authority is, uh, in our, uh, in the state law.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260622-1300 · Jun 22, 2026
0:50
Thomas Amodio“I have not encountered that before. I don't know what the motive of Mr. Haffner, a convicted felon in New Jersey, is for running for office in Alaska, but I would certainly suggest it would not be of the utmost high-mindedness. Type of motive, and where would you draw the line as far as a good motive versus an inferior motive or an unacceptable motive? Anyway, that's— I don't believe our laws allow that investigation.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260622-1300 · Jun 22, 2026
0:26
Thomas Amodio“My understanding with the federal is that if you meet the age requirement under federal law, you don't have to be a resident of Alaska for a day. You know what I mean? It's not— it's the way the federal law is worded. It's inhabitant, not resident.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260622-1300 · Jun 22, 2026
0:26
Thomas Amodio“I've not seen— I've not seen that before in my 30-plus, 35 years of practice before APOC, the Division of Elections. And let me just say real quickly, I admire the Division of Elections. I've seen them recounts. They are hardworking. They're terrific.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260622-1300 · Jun 22, 2026
0:31
Thomas Amodio“The declaration of candidacy is essentially sacrosanct. If you say, "I can be— meet those qualifications," and obviously you are the right, you know, got to be significant to be applicable age.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260622-1300 · Jun 22, 2026
0:18
Thomas Amodio“None that I'm aware of. There's nothing that says your motives have to be clean and, you know, above board. You could be running for the— because you want a paycheck. You could be running because you disagree on an issue with others.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260622-1300 · Jun 22, 2026
0:37
Thomas Amodio“This decision by the division has surprised me somewhat, but, you know, I'm, like I say, I don't represent the division, so it's, I'm not involved with them. But, um, yeah, so in my experience, that's, uh, um, uh, they, they haven't inquired into, I've never seen an inquiry into that area before, what the motives of the candidate are for running.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260622-1300 · Jun 22, 2026
0:31
Andrew Gray“for the first time in recent memory, the division appears to have moved beyond evaluating objective qualifications and into the realm of evaluating intent. It did not merely ask whether a candidate met the constitutional requirements for office. It asked whether the candidate's motives were genuine.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260622-1300 · Jun 22, 2026
0:58
Andrew Gray“The Division rejected the complaint and allowed Representative Eastman to remain on the ballot. In the ensuing litigation, the Division consistently maintained that Alaska law and regulation, quote, carve out a narrow role for the Division to evaluate candidates' eligibility to be on the ballot, primarily concerned with a candidate meet the requirements for citizenship, age, and residency.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260622-1300 · Jun 22, 2026
0:53
Andrew Gray“Legislative Counsel Andrew Dunmire issued a memorandum concluding that the division likely lacked legal authority to remove Mr. Sullivan from the ballot because the United States Constitution sets forth the qualifications for serving in the U.S. Senate, and a requirement that a candidate be filed in good faith is not among them.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260622-1300 · Jun 22, 2026
0:30
Andrew Gray“What authority does the Division of Elections have to remove a candidate from the ballot? And has that authority been exercised consistently? Those questions matter because public confidence in elections depends on more than accurate vote counting. It depends on the public's confidence that the rules are applied equally to everyone.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260622-1300 · Jun 22, 2026
0:42
Thomas Amodio“all you have to do is be an inhabitant of Alaska when you are actually elected. So, you could literally come up here on Election Day That's my understanding. And that's the position that the Division of Elections took in the case that you were talking about. And the Supreme Court agreed in the sense that the Supreme Court said, yeah, this is not for the Division of Elections to investigate and decide. They absolutely can and must rely on the declaration of candidacy filed by a candidate, and that's it”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260622-1300 · Jun 22, 2026
0:45
Andrew Gray“the Division maintained that it lacked the authority to independently question a candidate's stated intent regarding future residency and argued against removing him from the ballot. The Division wrote in its briefing to the court that, quote, In his declaration of candidacy, Mr. Haffner certified to the Division that he would meet the residency requirement. However unlikely that may be in his case, the Division must treat him the same way it would treat any other qualified candidate who affirms an intention to meet the residency requirement by Election Day.”
Alaska Legislature: MISC-20260622-1300 · Jun 22, 2026