Alaska sued over failure to open voting locations advertised to voters

Alaska election officials are facing a new lawsuit alleging that they failed to open numerous absentee in-person voting locations that the state told voters would be available ahead of the Nov. 3 general election.

The alleged failures left some rural Alaskans with few practical options to cast a ballot in person.

The Midnight Sun Independence Fund*, a nonprofit that conducts voter education in rural Alaska, filed the lawsuit Thursday against Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom (R), Elections Director Carol Beecher and the Alaska Division of Elections.

The group argues that the state’s handling of the voting sites violates Alaskans’ constitutional rights to vote and due process.

According to the complaint, at least 18 absentee in-person voting locations that appeared on the Division of Elections’ website were not operating as of the week of Oct. 19. The affected communities included Chignik Bay, Holy Cross, Pilot Station, Goodnews Bay, Ekwok, Mountain Village, Alakanuk and Gambell, among others.

Local officials in some communities reported that they never received the materials needed to run the sites, while others received materials but no training, the lawsuit alleges.

The consequences can be particularly severe in rural Alaska, where many communities are reachable only by boat or plane. The complaint says some affected areas have no other nearby early voting or absentee in-person location. In Toksook Bay, for example, a flight to the nearest community with a confirmed absentee in-person voting site costs roughly $450.

“The right of Alaskans to vote is unconstitutionally burdened by Defendants’ failure to open absentee in-person voting locations,” the complaint states. “The continued closure of the listed absentee in-person voting locations will force voters to incur severe costs and burdens to travel to alternative in person voting sites.”

The lawsuit also argues that voters relied on the state’s own website when deciding where and how to vote and that abruptly unavailable locations could result in voters being unable to cast ballots.

Midnight Sun is asking the court to immediately order election officials to open and operate every absentee in-person voting location that the Division listed during the week of Oct. 19. It also wants the court to declare that the state’s failure to do so violates the Alaska Constitution.

*The Elias Law Group (ELG) represents the plaintiffs in this case. ELG firm chair Marc Elias is the founder of Democracy Docket.