State of Alaska

Alaska Special Primary Election Accessibility Challenge

Corbisier v. Meyer

Lawsuit filed by the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights against Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer (who oversees elections in Alaska), the state and its election division over the state’s alleged failure to provide adequate accessible voting options to visually impaired voters. The state scheduled a special primary election for June 11 to fill the vacancy left after the death of Rep. Don Young (R) and, due to the last-minute nature, decided to hold an all-mail election while still offering some in-person absentee voting options. The complaint alleges that, without relief, “visually impaired voters will be denied their ability to vote privately, secretly, and independently by mail-in ballot or in-person absentee voting” because voting machines that can accommodate visually impaired voters are only available in five polling locations (that are not published online) and online absentee ballot options are not accessible to visually impaired voters without assistance. The lawsuit asks the state court to order voting measures to ensure all visually impaired voters can cast a ballot and to delay certification of the special primary results until such measures are implemented. The trial court granted the plaintiffs’ request to delay the certification of election results until accessible voting options were provided, but the Alaska Supreme Court reversed that decision and allowed the certification of election results. On Jan. 12, 2023, the case was dismissed.

Case Documents (Trial court)

Case Documents (AK supreme court)

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