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Two years after contentious 2020 vote, Alaska finds only three voter fraud cases

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Two years after contentious 2020 vote, Alaska finds only three voter fraud cases


Voters select their “I Voted” stickers on the polling location Glacier Valley Baptist Church, Juneau Alaska, Nov. eighth 2022. (Picture by Paige Sparks/KTOO)

A lady accused of voting illegally in each Alaska and Florida in the course of the 2020 elections will face costs in a Florida courtroom on Dec. 8, in keeping with on-line courtroom information.

When Cheryl-Ann Leslie is arraigned on felony counts of casting a couple of poll, she’s going to grow to be simply the second particular person charged with voter fraud associated to Alaska’s 2020 election.

Regardless of claims by some Alaskans that fraudulent voting modified the state’s election outcomes two years in the past, no proof of fraud on that scale has been uncovered by investigators.

After the 2020 election, Sen. Mike Bathe, R-Wasilla, was amongst those that collected details about doable fraudulent votes and forwarded it to state investigators.

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In January 2022, Gov. Mike Dunleavy stated three circumstances of doable voter fraud had been being investigated by state troopers.

The Florida case was the results of a particular group of Florida investigators assigned particularly to election-related crimes. Patty Sullivan, a spokesperson for the Alaska Division of Legislation, stated the Alaska Division of Elections assisted Florida’s investigation and referred the problem to legislation enforcement right here.

It wasn’t clear whether or not the case was one of many three talked about by Dunleavy. The governor’s workplace referred a query to the Division of Legislation and the Division of Public Security.

In accordance with a public information request with the Alaska Court docket System, solely two voter misconduct circumstances have been filed since 2020.

One stays sealed by a decide’s order, making particulars of the case unattainable to find out. The opposite case includes a Copper Middle man who signed absentee ballots with an anti-gay epithet.

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Terry Anthony Bell was initially charged with 5 felonies however pleaded responsible to only one misdemeanor rely of voter misconduct as a part of a plea cope with prosecutors.

Sullivan stated she couldn’t say whether or not some other circumstances will likely be filed by prosecutors.

“Aside from what’s public file, we can’t affirm the existence of lively prison investigations till prison costs have been introduced ahead,” she stated.

Earlier than the 2020 election, prosecutors accused Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux, R-Anchorage, her chief of workers, and the chief of workers’s son of voter misconduct associated to elections in 2018 and 2014.

Partially due to courtroom closures in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, the case in opposition to LeDoux and the 2 others has not gone to trial.

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The following listening to within the case is scheduled for Dec. 12.



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Alaska

North Pole flag football players will represent Alaska in televised showcase associated with NFL’s Pro Bowl Games

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North Pole flag football players will represent Alaska in televised showcase associated with NFL’s Pro Bowl Games


Alaska held its first sanctioned flag football state championship in October, making it one of about a dozen states to claim the designation.

Already, the brighter spotlight is having a ripple effect on the student-athletes who compete in the sport.

A pair of players from the state champion North Pole team have been invited to compete in a high school flag football showcase associated with the NFL’s Pro Bowl Games.

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Tiahna Guzman and Camryn Williams are in Orlando this weekend to compete against and alongside players from seven states including Florida, California and New York. The game is scheduled for 9 p.m. AKST on Sunday, and will be broadcast on ESPN during Postseason NFL Countdown.

For Guzman, the all-star game is yet another door that was opened to her from participating in flag football. A senior, she plans to play flag football at Bryant & Stratton College and attend the school’s campus in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.

“I think it was very important,” she said of the sanctioning. “That’s how my college reached out to me and that’s how they reached out to us for (this game), because we won state.”

Being the state champion in a sanctioned league landed North Pole (15-1) in eighth place in USA Today’s Top 25 rankings. That got them on radar of NFL Flag, the league’s official flag program. The 30 players in the game all hail from teams in the final Top 25.

“The sanctioning of it, really, it opens up a lot more opportunities like this,” North Pole coach Jamie Darby said.

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Both players are excited and a bit nervous to compete with players from other states. As Guzman noted, “they’re most definitely getting more reps than us. They have more time in the summer too, and they’re probably getting a lot more games than we did.”

“I’m super excited to see all the talent these girls have,” Williams said. “I always see them playing on clips on Instagram and stuff like that. They’re super cool. Yeah, I can’t wait.”

While Williams isn’t planning to play collegiately, she is hoping to go into sports management, and part of the itinerary includes a presentation of women in sports.

“I’m super excited to network and make all those connections,” Williams said. “I also can’t wait to meet all those other girls as well as just being a part of the whole NFL-sponsored event.”

Darby said these types of opportunities will only multiply as the game continues to increase in popularity nationwide.

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“I think we’ve perfectly scheduled our sanctioning with this blow-up across the nation to show that Alaska is involved,” she said. “It’s going to be a great opportunity for more girls to be able to go … to the next level, go to college. This year really put a good spotlight on Alaska.”

The itinerary also includes trips to Epcot and Topgolf although Guzman said she was uncertain of whether meeting NFL Pro Bowl athletes would be included.

The game at Camping World Stadium will be followed on Sunday by Pro Bowl Games festivities, including a tug-of-war, a relay race and a 7-on-7 flag football game.

Playing in a game that’s televised will bring an added level of pressure, but neither Alaska player seemed too worried.

“I think there’s gonna be a North Pole watch party for our team for any family and friends that want to join,” Williams said.

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The game is part of a whirlwind last year for Guzman, who wouldn’t have dreamed that flag football would be such a big part of her future plans.

“I did not think I was going to college (to play) flag football,” she said. “This was all just in this last year. So random, but I’m super excited.”





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Limited state revenue foreshadows fiscal tug-of-war in Alaska Legislature • Alaska Beacon

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Limited state revenue foreshadows fiscal tug-of-war in Alaska Legislature • Alaska Beacon


In a series of hearings this week within the Alaska State Capitol, public-school advocates from across the state presented hours of impassioned and often emotional testimony in favor of a bill that will sharply increase Alaska’s funding for public schools.

But a pair of cold-blooded financial hearings also showed that the request may have to compete with the Permanent Fund dividend and aid for aging state buildings.

In December, Gov. Mike Dunleavy proposed a $7.7 billion state budget for the fiscal year that starts June 1. 

That spending would require the state to spend $1.5 billion from savings, and it isn’t too dissimilar from what the governor has proposed in each of the past two years.

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In each of those years, the Legislature took the governor’s plan and slashed his proposed Permanent Fund dividend in order to avoid spending from savings.

The Legislature’s preferred dividend formula is called the 75-25, for the way it takes the annual transfer from the Alaska Permanent Fund to the state treasury, then divides it, 75% for services, and 25% for dividends.

“The last two years, the Legislature has put forward the 75-25 dividend and been able to have a balanced budget. This year, that is probably not enough,” Alexei Painter, director of the Legislative Finance Division, the Legislature’s budget analysis wing, told the Senate Finance Committee this week.

The problem is twofold: Lawmakers are preparing to spend more, and oil isn’t giving the state as much revenue as it used to.

When it comes to oil, the problem is one caused by success. State tax law allows oil companies to lower the amount they pay in production taxes through a deduction based on their operating expenses. 

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ConocoPhillips is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to develop the Willow project on federal land, and it can deduct its expenses from taxes it would otherwise pay this year. That makes it a money-loser for the state treasury in the next few years.

The nearby Pikka project is being developed by another company, which doesn’t currently produce oil. That company, Australia-based Santos, will be able to apply its deductions to future oil production, so even though the North Slope will be producing more oil, the state won’t be earning more money.

In the state Capitol, House Bill 69, an education-funding increase proposed by members of the state House, is expected to cost at least $300 million above what the governor has proposed spending on education. An official estimate isn’t yet available.

Add the cost of that legislation to already-expected cost increases, and there’s not enough money to go around, Painter told the Senate Finance Committee, then reiterated his comments to the House Finance Committee on Thursday.

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“Simply switching the dividend to 75-25 is not going to be enough to balance the budget this year. You’re going to have to either find other budget reductions, reduce the dividend further or explore other revenue options. You can’t just do that one thing and it’s solved, which has worked the last two years,” he said.

To date, no legislators have introduced any legislation proposing to significantly change state taxes. During the first six years of his administration, Dunleavy has vetoed every tax bill to reach his desk, and legislators have never overridden any of his vetoes.

Painter also warned both committees that the governor’s proposed budget doesn’t include enough to keep up with maintenance at state facilities.

Alaska has a maintenance backlog of more than $2 billion, and many state buildings were built during the oil boom of the 1970s and 1980s. That leaves many of them overdue for replacement or repair.

The problem may be worse than official reports indicate, Painter said, offering the Fairbanks Pioneer Home as an example.

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That building has a deferred maintenance list of a few million dollars, but it also needs a new roof and doesn’t meet federal standards for accessibility by handicapped people.

Replacing the building would cost $115 million, he said.

In the House Finance Committee on Thursday, Rep. Will Stapp, R-Fairbanks, asked Painter what would happen if average oil prices finished $10 below what the state is expecting in the coming years.

That would widen the expected deficit by $350 million to $400 million, Painter replied.

“Have you done any modeling on the 99-1 yet?” Stapp asked, jokingly referring to a dividend formula that would leave just 1% of the annual Permanent Fund transfer for dividends.

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“I don’t even think that would cover the costs of running the PFD program,” Painter said.

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Help with paying utility bills listed among top requests from Alaska 211

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Help with paying utility bills listed among top requests from Alaska 211


ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Workers at United Way’s statewide 211 line said Thursday that Alaskans asking for help to pay their utility bills is one of the top requests.

According to United Way data from 2023, utility assistance continues to be one of the top four unmet needs in Alaska, with that list rounded out by requests for help with housing, transportation, and food.

In the case of utility bills, United Way’s Chief Operating Officer Sue Brogan said the agency has a database with as many as 70 partners around the state that can provide some sort of energy assistance. That database features nonprofits, city and state programs, and tribal and non-tribal entities.

Brogan said trained navigators can help people find programs for which they might be eligible. The database also keeps track of which programs are currently accepting clients and have funding available and which ones don’t. The State of Alaska, for example, reports a backlog on processing applications for heating assistance programs.

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Some of the money available includes a recent $50,000 donation from Enstar, which Brogan said is designed to help Southcentral Alaskans who are struggling to pay their heating bills.

“All of that information is in the database,” Brogan said, “and so, when somebody calls in for help, the resource call specialist can take that person through all of those qualifications to make sure we are making a good referral.”

In addition to calling, Brogan said people can go directly to the Alaska 211 website to research various programs themselves, though she said calling or emailing the call center has the advantage of getting personalized help.

“Where do you start, what’s the eligibility, what do I have to bring to my appointment?” Brogan said. “We can help you with that; we can help you navigate that. And that is one of the greatest things about 211, is that we have staff that are here that can help you with that step.”

Alaskans can call 211 or (800) 478-2221, visit the website at Alaska211.org, or email Alaska211@ak.org.

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The call center is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Callers can leave messages after hours.

See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com



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