The Alaska Division of Elections is accused of ignoring firm deadlines in state law and regulations when it allowed the group seeking to repeal Alaska’s open primary and ranked-choice voting system to fix severe errors with its petition booklets.
A Superior Court judge ruled earlier this year that the state can let the group — the right-wing Alaskans for Honest Elections — fix fraudulently notarized signature booklets well after the deadlines to get the initiative on the ballot. That ruling has been appealed to the Alaska Supreme Court, which is set to hear oral arguments on Thursday.
The appeal concerns 60 booklets submitted before the Jan. 16 deadline to appear on the 2024 general election ballot but were found to have been notarized by a person with an expired notary commission. Despite passing the deadline, the Division of Elections returned the booklets to the group, which ultimately fixed and returned the ballots after a second deadline for them to appear on any ballot.
All groups involved in the case agree that had the 60 ballots been thrown out, the group wouldn’t have had enough signatures in enough legislative districts to qualify.
The appeal was filed by several citizens who are being represented by a team led by Scott Kendall, a key architect and supporter of the election laws. It argues that the leniency the Superior Court granted the state runs contrary to case law, which has favored strict adherence to deadlines. The appeal notes that a candidate has been rejected because he completed his paperwork 10 minutes after the filing deadline.
The appeal argues that the leniency also creates the impression of bias and favoritism by the Division of Elections. Under Gov. Mike Dunleavy, the Division of Elections has routinely blocked or muddied progressives, including the attempted recall of the governor. The Supreme Court ruled each time the Division of Elections had unfairly tilted the process.
“This occurrence represents the danger inherent in the Division’s demonstrated inconsistency in applying the applicable statutes and regulations,” the appeal. “When agencies such as the Division effectively alter or amend statutory deadlines and regulatory processes, they not only contravene the legislative intent clearly set forth in the statute, but also disrupt the balance of procedural fairness designed to protect the integrity of the electoral process.”
The state and Alaskans for Honest Elections — which is being represented by disgraced former Attorney General Kevin Clarkson, whose office had authored many of the legal opinions meddling with progressive campaigns under the Dunleavy administration — both argue that the Alaska Constitution is intended to err on the side of the voters, allowing them to be the ultimate decider on election issues, particularly voter initiatives.
While Superior Court Judge Christina Rankin didn’t favor the supporters of open primaries and ranked-choice voting, she disqualified dozens of signature booklets following a week-and-a-half trial that revealed a messy signature-gathering campaign. Alaskans for Honest Elections has also faced a litany of campaign finance violations, which have resulted in big fines.
Oral arguments are scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday and will be streamed on Gavel Alaska.
The appeal
Matt Acuña Buxton is a long-time political reporter who has written for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and The Midnight Sun political blog. He also authors the daily politics newsletter, The Alaska Memo, and can frequently be found live-tweeting public meetings on Twitter.
