ALASKA FLAGS MORE THAN 3,000 VOTERS IN CITIZENSHIP-RECORDS MESS BEFORE PRIMARY
Alaska election officials have moved 3,048 registered voters to the state’s inactive list and asked them to confirm their U.S. citizenship after an unusually broad records check uncovered conflicting information between the state’s voter rolls and motor-vehicle database.
The number immediately raised eyebrows because similar voter-list reviews ordinarily produce only about 200 names requiring additional examination. This time, the total was more than 15 times higher—and state officials still cannot say precisely why.
Alaska Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher told lawmakers that the dramatic increase apparently resulted from stale information being pulled from the Division of Motor Vehicles.
The affected voters received letters informing them that they had declared themselves U.S. citizens when they initially registered to vote but that the Elections Division had subsequently received information suggesting otherwise.
“You are a registered voter who indicated you were a citizen of the United States on your initial voter registration application,” the notice states. “We have since received information from the Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles that you may not be a citizen.”
In a memo released Thursday, the DMV described the Elections Division’s request as “nonroutine.” The agency said election officials supplied a list of approximately 15,200 driver’s-license and identification-card applicants in March and asked the DMV to return citizenship information associated with those records.
The DMV responded with records for people whose latest confirmed status in its system was something other than “Citizen.” Elections officials followed up in June seeking clarification before mailing the notices and changing the voters’ status.
The number immediately raised eyebrows because similar voter-list reviews ordinarily produce only about 200 names requiring additional examination. This time, the total was more than 15 times higher—and state officials still cannot say precisely why.
Alaska Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher told lawmakers that the dramatic increase apparently resulted from stale information being pulled from the Division of Motor Vehicles.
The affected voters received letters informing them that they had declared themselves U.S. citizens when they initially registered to vote but that the Elections Division had subsequently received information suggesting otherwise.
“You are a registered voter who indicated you were a citizen of the United States on your initial voter registration application,” the notice states. “We have since received information from the Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles that you may not be a citizen.”
In a memo released Thursday, the DMV described the Elections Division’s request as “nonroutine.” The agency said election officials supplied a list of approximately 15,200 driver’s-license and identification-card applicants in March and asked the DMV to return citizenship information associated with those records.
The DMV responded with records for people whose latest confirmed status in its system was something other than “Citizen.” Elections officials followed up in June seeking clarification before mailing the notices and changing the voters’ status.
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