Alaska drops cases against American Samoans who checked ‘US citizen’ on voter form
Group no longer faces voter misconduct case over wrongly marked box after appeals court throws out felony charges
TL;DR
- Alaska is dropping voter misconduct cases against 11 residents from American Samoa.
- An appeals court ruling found that felony charges require proof of intent to break the law.
- The court overturned charges against Tupe Smith, citing issues with questioning and the grand jury process.
- Prosecutors stated they could not prove cases against Smith and others beyond a reasonable doubt.
- American Samoans are US nationals, not automatically citizens, and face complex paths to citizenship.
- Smith claimed she relied on erroneous information from election officials when marking herself as a US citizen on voter forms.