One clear sign that this voter suppression effort in the Alaska State Legislature is tied to the spirit of Trump's false claims of election fraud is that Homer Representative Sarah Vance will likely file a new "election integrity" bill. In a recent constituent newsletter, she reported that she would soon file her Election Integrity Act (capitalized for increased legitimacy), which will require "every legitimate vote to be counted and safeguards against ballot fraud with strict chain of custody protocols."

Rep. Vance won her seat by stoking local passions around the Trump presidency and enjoyed the full advantage of a closed party primary system. It is hard to squint far back enough to find a more extreme conservative lawmaker in the districts' history. So extreme in fact, Rep. Vance may be the first lawmaker since statehood (or perhaps before) to represent Homer who has not seen fit or been chosen to participate in a legislative majority coalition. Political historians, kindly fact check this. When a legislator this extreme who has not touched the issue in the past starts conjuring up solutions on voting, a broader national conservative strategy is at play.  

Cribbing from a New York Times piece here, the Brennan Center for Justice recently compiled a tidy summary of the voting laws that have been filed by state legislators in 2021 so far. Alaska's SB 39 puts us on the national map among those states where there are efforts to restrict voting access. This report fails to mention SB 43 by Senator Shelley Hughes (R-Wasilla) and HB 23 by Representative George Rauscher (R-Sutton), both of which contain similar voting restrictions as contained in Sen. Shower's legislation. Suppose Vance’s promise to file a similar bill comes true, and from what we hear, the Governor also plans to file a bill to overturn Automatic Voter Registration. In that case, it is clear that the GOP has what appears to be a coordinated strategy, both here at home and down south.

In a state with such truly unique voting circumstances as Alaska, considering our distances, language barriers, and geographic barriers, a national astroturf campaign to make voting harder is highly inappropriate, is insulting, is a waste of time, and is a poor use of limited state resources. On top of that, doubling down on voter suppression because it is comfortably within the GOP national playbook negates the fact that special attention needs to still be paid to making voting safer and more accessible in Alaska during a pandemic. Sen. Shower and Sen. Reinbold may at times flout the rules and go without face coverings during committee meetings (subjecting the poor Recording Secretary and other support staff to their rebellious plumes). Their peacocking does not mean that the pandemic is over and does not mean that our legislature should not consider its impacts in every aspect of its law-making.

SB 39 will be heard next Tuesday and Thursday again in Senate State Affairs (no public testimony scheduled yet). If you are hoping for a cogent presentation of the concepts, you may find yourself disappointed in the Senate State Affairs proceedings. The Chair claims he brought this bill up to debate on the merit of its concepts. Yet, in the same breath, he defends himself from the growing negative perception of this bill. He also claims that it is not fair to attack the bill as partisan today because it was first introduced three years ago. I'm afraid I have to disagree. It is fair to attack the bill for what it would do if enacted three years ago or today. No matter the timeline, the bill would make it harder for Alaskans to vote. If the Chair has evidence to the contrary, we have yet to see it. 

Hearings to Watch Next Week

Monday Feb 8
3:30 p.m.

S)RESOURCES
Overview of Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) by Tina Cunning

Tuesday Feb 9
3:30 p.m.

(S)STATE AFFAIRS
+=SB 53 PERM FUND; ADVISORY VOTE
+=SJR 6 CONST. AM: PERM FUND & PFDS
*+SJR 1 CONST AM: GUARANTEE PERM FUND DIVIDEND
+=SB 39 BALLOT CUSTODY/TAMPERING; VOTER REG; MAIL

Wednesday Feb 10
1:30 p.m.

(S)LABOR & COMMERCE
*+SB 69 EXEMPT RENEWABLE ENERGY ELECTRIC PLANTS -- Invited & Public Testimony --

Thursday Feb 11
3:30 p.m.

S)STATE AFFAIRS
+=SB 39BALLOT CUSTODY/TAMPERING; VOTER REG; MAIL
-- Testimony <Invitation Only TBA> --
+=SB 43 ELECTIONS, VOTING, CAMPAIGN FINANCE
+=SB 25 STATE GOV'T FINANCES: WEBSITE
+=SJR 5 CONST. AM: APPROP LIMIT; BUDGET RESERVE
+=SJR 6 CONST. AM: PERM FUND & PFDS
+=SJR 7 CONST. AM: STATE TAX; VOTER APPROVAL
+=SB 53 PERM FUND; ADVISORY VOTE
+=SJR 1 CONST AM: GUARANTEE PERM FUND DIVIDEND
-- Testimony <TBA> --