Alaska

Opinion: Alaskans, don’t be duped by the citizens voter initiative

Published

2 months ago

December 22, 2025

Opinion: Alaskans, don’t be duped by the citizens voter initiative

Voters received stickers after they cast their general election ballot at the Alaska Division of Elections Region II office in Anchorage as absentee in-person and early voting began on Oct. 21, 2024. (Bill Roth / ADN)

A signature drive is underway for a ballot measure formally titled “An Act requiring that only United States citizens may be qualified to vote in Alaska elections,” often referred to by its sponsors as the United States Citizens Voter Act. Supporters say it would “clarify” that only U.S. citizens may vote in Alaska elections. That may sound harmless. But Alaskans should not sign this petition or vote for the measure if it reaches the ballot. The problem it claims to fix is imaginary, and its real intent has nothing to do with election integrity.

Alaska already requires voters to be U.S. citizens. Election officials enforce that rule. There is no bill in Juneau proposing to change it, no court case challenging it and no Alaska municipality contemplating noncitizen voting. Nothing in our election history or law suggests that the state’s citizenship requirement is under threat.

Which raises the real question: If there’s no problem to solve, what is this measure actually for?

The answer has everything to do with election politics. Across the Lower 48, “citizenship voting” drives have been used as turnout engines and list-building operations — reliable ways to galvanize conservative voters, recruit volunteers and gather contact data. These measures typically have no immediate policy impact, but the downstream political payoff is substantial.

Alaska’s effort fits neatly into that pattern. The petition is being circulated by Alaskans for Citizen Voting, whose leading advocates include former legislators John Coghill, Mike Chenault and Josh Revak. The group’s own financial disclaimer identifies a national organization, Americans for Citizen Voting, as its top contributor. The effort isn’t purely local. It is part of a coordinated national campaign.

To understand where this may be headed, look at what Americans for Citizen Voting is doing in other states. In Michigan, the group is backing a constitutional amendment far more sweeping than the petition: It would require documentary proof of citizenship for all voters, eliminate affidavit-based registration, tighten ID requirements even for absentee ballots, and require voter-roll purges tied to citizenship verification. In short, “citizen-only voting” is the opening move — the benign-sounding front door to a much broader effort to make voting more difficult for many eligible Americans.

Across the country, these initiatives rarely stand alone. They serve to establish the narrative that elections are lax or vulnerable, even when they are not. That narrative then becomes the justification for downstream restrictions: stricter ID laws, new documentation burdens for naturalized citizens, more aggressive voter-roll purges and — especially relevant here — new hurdles for absentee and mail-in voters.

In the 2024 general election, the Alaska Division of Elections received more than 55,000 absentee and absentee-equivalent ballots — about 16% of all ballots cast statewide. Many of those ballots came from rural and roadless communities, where as much as 90% of the population lacks road access and depends heavily on mail and air service. Absentee voting is not a convenience in these places; it is how democracy reaches Alaskans who live far from polling stations.

When a national organization that has supported absentee-voting restrictions elsewhere becomes the top financial backer of the petition, Alaskans should ask what comes next.

Supporters say the initiative is common sense. But laws don’t need “clarifying” when they are already explicit, already enforced and already uncontroversial. No one has produced evidence that noncitizen voting is a problem in an Alaska election. We simply don’t have a problem for this measure to solve.

What we do have are real challenges — education, public safety, energy policy, housing, fiscal stability. The petition addresses none of them. It is political theater, an Outside agenda wrapped in Alaska packaging.

If someone with a clipboard asks you to sign the Citizens Voter petition, say no. The problem is fictional, and the risks to our voting system are real. And if the measure makes the ballot, vote no.

Stan Jones is a former award-winning Alaska journalist and environmental advocate. He lives in Anchorage.

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Related Topics:Featured general election absentee in-person and early voting

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Alaska

Musician performs under the aurora in Nenana — without gloves, in 17 degrees

Published

3 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Musician performs under the aurora in Nenana — without gloves, in 17 degrees

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – A musician with Alaska Native roots recorded an hour-long live set in Interior Alaska beneath the aurora.

Chastity Ashley, a drummer, vocalist and DJ who performs under the name Neon Pony, celebrated a year since she traveled to Nenana to record a live music set beneath the northern lights for her series Beats and Hidden Retreats.

Ashley, who has Indigenous roots in New Mexico, said she was drawn to Alaska in part because of the role drums play in Alaska Native culture. A handmade Alaskan hand drum, brought to her by a man from just outside Anchorage, was incorporated into the performance in February 2025.

Recording in the cold

The team spent eight days in Nenana waiting for the aurora to appear. Ashley said the lights did not come out until around 4 a.m., and she performed a continuous, uninterrupted hour-long set in 17-degree weather without gloves.

“It was freezing. I couldn’t wear gloves because I’m actually playing, yeah, hand drums and holding drumsticks. And there was ice underneath my feet,” Ashley said.

“So, I had to really utilize my balance and my willpower and my ability to just really immerse in the music and let go and make it about the celebration of what I was doing as opposed to worrying about all the other elements or what could go wrong.”

She said she performed in a leotard to allow full range of motion while drumming, DJing and singing.

Filming on Nenana tribal land

Ashley said she did not initially know the filming location was on indigenous land. After local authorities told her the decision was not theirs to make, she contacted the Nenana tribe directly for permission.

“I went into it kind of starting to tell them who I was and that I too was a part of a native background,” Ashley said. “And they just did not even care. They’re like, listen, we’re about to have a party for one of our friends here. Go and do what you like.”

Ashley said the tribe gave her full permission to film on the reservation, and that the aurora footage seen in the episode was captured there.

Seeing the aurora for the first time

Ashley said the Nenana performance marked her first time seeing the northern lights in person.

“It felt as if I were awake in a dream,” she said. “It really doesn’t seem real.”

She said she felt humbled and blessed to perform beneath the aurora and to celebrate its beauty and grandeur through her music.

“I feel incredibly humbled and blessed that not only did I get to take part in seeing something like that, but to play underneath it and celebrate its beauty and its grandeur.”

The Alaska episode is the second installment of Beats and Hidden Retreats, which is available on YouTube at @NeonPony. Ashley said two additional episodes are in production and she hopes to make it back up to Alaska in the future.

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Alaska

Over $150K worth of drugs seized from man in Juneau, police say

Published

15 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Over 0K worth of drugs seized from man in Juneau, police say

JUNEAU, Alaska (KTUU) – An Alaska drug task force seized roughly $162,000 worth of controlled substances during an operation in Juneau Thursday, according to the Juneau Police Department.

Around 3 p.m. Thursday, investigators with the Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs (SEACAD) approached 50-year-old Juneau resident Jermiah Pond in the Nugget Mall parking lot while he was sitting in his car, according to JPD.

A probation search of the car revealed a container holding about 7.3 gross grams of a substance that tested presumptively positive for methamphetamine, as well as about 1.21 gross grams of a substance that tested presumptively positive for fentanyl.

As part of the investigation, investigators executed a search warrant at Pond’s residence, during which they found about 46.63 gross grams of ketamine, 293.56 gross grams of fentanyl, 25.84 gross grams of methamphetamine and 25.5 gross grams of MDMA.

In all, it amounted to just less than a pound of drugs worth $162,500.

Investigators also seized $102,640 in cash and multiple recreational vehicles believed to be associated with the investigation.

Pond was lodged on charges of second-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance, two counts of third-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance, five counts of fourth-degree misconduct involving a substance and an outstanding felony probation warrant.

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Alaska

Sand Point teen found 3 days after going missing in lake

Published

1 day ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Sand Point teen found 3 days after going missing in lake

SAND POINT, Alaska (KTUU) – A teenage boy who was last seen Monday when the canoe he was in tipped over has been found by a dive team in a lake near Sand Point, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Alaska’s News Source confirmed with the person, who is close to the search efforts, that the dive team found 15-year-old Kaipo Kaminanga deceased Thursday in Red Cove Lake, located a short drive from the town of Sand Point on the Aleutian Island chain.

Kaminanga was last seen canoeing with three other friends on Monday when the boat tipped over.

A search and rescue operation ensued shortly after.

Alaska Dive Search Rescue and Recovery Team posted on Facebook Thursday night that they were able to “locate and recover” Kaminanga at around 5 p.m. Thursday.

“We are glad we could bring closure to his family, friends and community,” the post said.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated when more details become available.

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