Alaska prosecutors are dropping voter misconduct charges against 11 American Samoan residents from Whittier, including school board member Tupe Smith. The decision follows an Alaska Court of Appeals ruling that threw out Smith's felony charges, establishing that the state must prove a "consciousness of wrongdoing" rather than a simple false statement. Because American Samoans are U.S. nationals but not automatic citizens, Smith checked the citizen box on advice from local officials when no national option was provided.
Alaska voter misconduct case dismissals
- ▪Alaska prosecutors dropped voter misconduct cases against 11 residents born in American Samoa who were accused of falsely claiming U.S. citizenship on voter forms
- ▪Acting Alaska Attorney General Cori Mills announced that prosecutors could not prove the voter misconduct cases beyond a reasonable doubt following a state appeals court ruling
Consciousness of wrongdoing requirement
- ▪Defense attorney Whitney Brown stated that the Alaska Court of Appeals decision establishes an important safeguard against imposing felony liability for an honest mistake
- ▪A three-judge Alaska Court of Appeals panel ruled that state law requires proof that defendants had a "consciousness of wrongdoing" and intended to break the law when filling out voter forms
American Samoa citizenship status
- ▪American Samoans can serve in the military and obtain U.S. passports, but they cannot hold public office in the U.S. or participate in most U.S. elections
- ▪American Samoa is the only U.S. territory where residents are considered U.S. nationals rather than being automatically granted U.S. citizenship by birth
Tupe Smith voter registration confusion
- ▪Tupe Smith was arrested after winning election to a regional school board in 2023 and being indicted on two counts of felony voter misconduct
- ▪Tupe Smith stated she marked herself as a U.S. citizen because voter registration forms lacked a U.S. national option and Whittier city representatives told her it was appropriate
Flawed police interrogation techniques
- ▪The Alaska Court of Appeals panel found that a state trooper asked Tupe Smith a lengthy, complex compound question containing four individual questions that implied she knew she was ineligible to vote
- ▪The Alaska Court of Appeals panel noted that when Tupe Smith, whose native language is not English, did not immediately respond, a second trooper pressured her to answer before she said "Yes."
Grand jury process deficiencies
- ▪The Alaska Court of Appeals panel threw out the felony charges against Tupe Smith after finding flaws with the grand jury process that led to her indictment
- ▪The Alaska Court of Appeals panel overturned a lower court's decision that had previously kept the felony voter misconduct charges against Tupe Smith active
Debatable claims
- ▪Voter misconduct laws should require proof of intent to prosecute
- ▪The United States should automatically grant citizenship to people born in American Samoa
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