Alaska News

National tribal group raises concern with Alaska over voter ID laws

The National Congress of American Indians released a report this week naming Alaska as one of six "states of concern" for Native voters due to voter ID laws.

Alaska is listed as a concern because it does not list tribal ID as an acceptable form of identification; the only other state prohibiting tribal ID is Florida. Alaska also requires some combination of identification that proves voter name and address within the state, such as a passport or utility bills. This can cause problems for some tribal communities that have no street addresses, according to the Seattle Times.

The study also cites a "barrier of cost, logistics and distance to obtaining required IDs" for potential Alaska Native voters.

The other "states of concern" included in the report are Florida, Minnesota, Michigan, South Dakota and Wisconsin. There are an additional 12 "focus states" where Native Vote is focusing resources on voter engagement, education and protection.

The study says that more than a half-million Native youth will vote for the first time in the next few years, and that voter ID laws excluding tribal IDs could pose "a direct challenge to the freedom of these new voters."

Read the full report and more from the Seattle Times.

Craig Medred

Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2015.

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