Democrats Sue Alaska Over 18 Rural Polling Sites as Thousands Risk Disenfranchisement
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Oct 31
Democrats Sue Alaska Over 18 Rural Polling Sites as Thousands Risk Disenfranchisement
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Oct 31
Summary
An Anchorage Superior Court lawsuit filed Friday accuses Alaska election officials of failing to properly run at least 18 rural absentee-in-person voting sites in predominantly Alaska Native communities.
The complaint says some locations never opened, opened late, kept irregular hours or lacked ballots, and some voters traveled by boat or plane only to be turned away.
Elections Director Carol Beecher said 12 of the 18 sites had confirmed they were open, three declined to open and officials were still trying to reach three others, pointing to local partners' role in staffing sites.
Democrats want the state to keep all remote polling places open through the 8 p.m. Election Day close, arguing several thousand voters could be affected in a state where races are often decided by only hundreds or thousands of votes.
The dispute highlights Alaska's chronic election-access problems: 82% of communities lack road access, and remote ballots and polling sites have repeatedly failed in past elections.