The federal “SAVE Act” threatens to strip thousands of Alaskans of their ability to vote, Murkowski says

An elections bill being debated in the U.S. Senate could deprive thousands of Alaskans of the ability to vote in this year’s elections, Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Thursday in long speech on Capitol Hill.

SAVE America Actsupported by President Donald Trump and most Republicans in Congress, is ostensibly intended to prevent non-citizens from voting in U.S. elections, but its implementation could prevent many Americans from voting.

“While disenfranchisement may not be the intent of the SAVE America Act… I think we’ll see that. In fact, I fully expect that to be the outcome,” Murkowski said.

The bill would require voters to show photo ID when voting and provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote. This would mean presenting proof of citizenship in person to an election office or other specially licensed state permit.

“This would be a major departure from the way most Alaskans currently register to vote,” Murkowski said.

Approximately 29,000 Alaskans have registered to vote in 2024. Most of them – around 25,000 – would have encountered problems if the current law had been in force at the time, she added.

Most voter registration in Alaska is done online or through the state’s drive-thru or PFD election process. The bill could enable citizenship verification, but it’s unclear how that will happen, Murkowski.

Mandating in-person registration would have a huge impact in Alaska.

The state has only six personal election officesmainly on the railway right-of-way and less than a dozen DMV offices where residents could provide proof of citizenship.

Some other state agencies may also be able to accept this proof, but the bill’s requirements take effect immediately and do not provide funding for states to make changes that would allow remote agencies to verify identity.

In practice, this means the bill would require rural residents to fly to cities in Alaska, Murkowski said.

Additionally, anyone wishing to register would be required to have a passport – approximately 50% of Alaskans do not have one, according to Murkowski – or other appropriate identification.

Alaskan driver’s licenses would not be good enough to register to vote, nor would most tribal IDs, because they do not specifically designate someone as a citizen or not.

The bill allows people to self-certify their citizenship by signing an affidavit, but this clause only applies if the person has already made “reasonable efforts” to obtain a copy of a valid ID.

It’s unclear what that means, Murkowski said.

The bill would also end the practice in Alaska of allowing anyone to cast an absentee ballot for any reason. It would limit mail-in voting to a subset of specifically identified voters, including people who live outside the state where they are registered to vote.

Murkowski said she has seen no evidence that these types of measures are needed to address the problem on a petite scale.

Voting by foreigners is infrequent in Alaska. According to a report obtained by the Alaska Beacon through a public records request 70 possible cases since 2015. There are at least 11 people on this list have been charged in state court.

“It’s basically seven a year,” Murkowski said.

“When I look at what we’re trying to accomplish here, striking that balance — disenfranchising so many people who would face almost insurmountable challenges to register or vote — I look at it and overall, it doesn’t matter,” she said.

Earlier this year, Rep. Nick Begich III, R-Alaska, voted in favor of adopting the bill after leaving the House, later stating that he thought it would not be hard to comply with the bill.

Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska said he supports the bill despite its consequences for the state.

“I really believe that the ability to show ID and proof of citizenship to ensure election security is important and supported by the vast majority of Americans,” he said in response to a question during a February forum hosted by the Juneau Chamber of Commerce.

At that forum, he was confronted by an enraged participant who questioned how he could speak on Elizabeth Peratrowicz Day, a national holiday honoring the Alaska Native civil rights leader, and support a bill that would have a detrimental effect on Alaska Native voters.

“I have a very, very, very strong record of franchising for our citizens, particularly the Alaska Native community,” he said, referring to actions he took during Alaska’s 2010 elections while serving as attorney general.

“I think voting should be easy, but cheating when voting shouldn’t be,” Sullivan said.

Although Sullivan has said he supports the bill, he told reporters last month that he does not support overriding the Senate filibuster to pass it.

In practice, a filibuster means that the bill would require 60 votes to pass the Senate, rather than 50 and the vice president.

With all Senate Democrats and Murkowski opposing the SAVE Act, the bill – at least as of Friday – lacks the support needed to become law.