Sen Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, spoke out on the Senate floor last week in opposition to the SAVE America Act, legislation which in its current draft form poses numerous difficulties for Alaskans, she says.
With the bill’s provisions effective immediately, state officials would have to comply with the new rules, she said, bearing the entire cost of implementation because the bill includes no federal funding to help states comply.
Second, the bill requires presentation of documentary proof of citizenship – in person– to register to vote, a major departure from how most Alaskans currently register to vote, Murkowski said.
There were about 29,000 new voter registrations in 2024. The SAVE America Act would have forced over 25,000 of these Alaskans into Alaska Division of Elections offices, and potentially state public assistance agencies, DMVs, and other locations the state has designated as voter registration agencies, she said.
Those wanting to register to vote could have to physically go to one of six regional election offices – in Juneau, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Nome, Wasilla and Kenai – to present documentary proof of citizenship. What is less clear is whether people could provide these documents at offices of the Department of Motor Vehicles, state public assistance offices or other locations that currently provide in person voter registration services, though at very low levels.
“If you’re in Southeast, you may have to fly to Juneau,” she said. “If you’re in Southwest, to Anchorage. In Northwest, that could mean you’re flying to Nome. If you’re on the North Slope, you’re flying to Fairbanks.”
That’s going to be hard for thousands of Alaskans. It’s going to be expensive. And many who are eligible to vote, who are citizens of our country, will decide they can’t afford it or simply aren’t going to do it,” Murkowsi added.
The senator cited as an example a 17-year-old resident of Savoonga on Saint Lawrence Island who will turn 18 in October and wants to vote for the first time this year.
That teenager would have to book a $720 fight to Nome, and stay overnight there, which would mean several hundred dollars more for hotel reservations, food and cab fare – the total of which Murkowski estimated would come to around $1,100.
Another example she presented detailed what a fisherman from Unalaska on the Aleutian chain would have to do. The flight to Anchorage, the closest option for that person to register to vote, would cost more than $1,400, plus the additional cost of a hotel room for the night, cabs and food, assuming the weather would allow a flight back to Unalaska on the following day.
Murkowski also noted that some 155,000 female residents of Alaska ages 15 and older have names that do not match their birth certificates due to last name changes. They would have to provide a paper trail of evidence that may not be readily available and take months to receive to prove not only who they are but also that they are U.S. citizens, she said.
“The states should remain in charge of their own elections,” the senator said. “They should set their own requirements based on what works for them, because we cannot shift to a system that works for many rightful voters, but not all, and particularly so close to Election Day and with no funding for the states to implement new mandates.”
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