Michael Tavoliero: Taking Back Alaska means reforming Alaska’s election manipulation bureaucracy

Taking Back Alaska Part III

By MICHAEL TAVOLIERO

The greatest threat to Alaska democracy isn’t traditional voter fraud. Instead, it’s state-controlled election manipulation, which ensures establishment candidates and special interests maintain power.

Entrenched elites in America have exploited election laws, selectively enforced campaign finance regulations, and manipulated bureaucratic structures to suppress voter choice and consolidate control.

This extends beyond election procedures. Taxation and legislative mechanisms provide unlimited financing to maintain this dominance while weaponizing public agencies and erecting barriers against grassroots opposition.

Michael Tavoliero: Taking back Alaska, dismantling the corrupt bureaucracy, Part I

Has Alaska’s election system been systematically tilted against voters?

A History of Election Manipulation

• 19th Century Machine Politics: Corrupt political machines like Tammany Hall in New York City rigged elections by stuffing ballots, intimidating voters, and controlling election officials. These operations were funded through municipal tax structures, enriching political insiders and squeezing out reformers.
• Jim Crow Disenfranchisement: Post-Reconstruction Southern states imposed poll taxes and literacy tests to suppress black and poor white voters while extracting revenue through taxation to sustain the ruling political class.
• Progressive Era Bureaucracy: 20th-century reforms like direct primaries and campaign finance laws were meant to reduce corruption but instead created complex regulatory systems favoring well-funded insiders while burdening grassroots movements. The true agenda behind these measures created bureaucracies that favored establishment candidates and agendas securing tax-funded campaign advantages while burdening grassroots movements.
• The 1960 Presidential Election: Allegations of ballot fraud in Illinois and Texas helped John F. Kennedy defeat Richard Nixon. Cook County, controlled by the Chicago Democratic machine, played a key role, raising questions about the fairness of the system. These local machines were funded through state and city taxation, which funneled public funds into election operations that preserved their grip on power.
• Watergate and Campaign Oversight Abuse: The Watergate scandal in the 1970s revealed how election oversight agencies could be weaponized to target political opponents, reinforcing the need for truly independent election administration. The Watergate scandal also exposed how federal agencies were used to surveil and undermine political opponents while public funds were diverted for electioneering. The revelation of Nixon’s campaign slush fund underscored how those in power manipulate financial systems to maintain control.
• The Rise of Dark Money: The 21st century has seen the rapid expansion of untraceable money in politics, with political action committees (PACs), non-profits, and foreign entities influencing American elections while state-level bureaucracies selectively enforce campaign finance laws against outsiders while protecting establishment candidates. The explosion of PACs, non-profits, and foreign entities influencing U.S. elections was mirrored by an increase in taxpayer-funded campaign advantages for incumbents. State-controlled financing mechanisms ensure that political insiders always have the upper hand.
• The DOGE Awakening: The rise of DOGE has triggered a public awakening, revealing how elections, administrative control, and NGO-driven financial networks serve as conduits for systemic money laundering that cements the DC’s uniparty’s grip on power. While this awareness is growing nationally, states like Alaska remain largely untouched by its impact. 

Originally dismissed as a digital curiosity, DOGE and blockchain technology have instead exposed deep corruption in government finance, campaign funding, and regulatory overreach.

The 2020 and 2022 elections provided proof of how privately funded election administration, masquerading as “non-partisan integrity efforts,” injected untraceable money into the system, overwhelmingly benefiting establishment incumbents. Non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) funneled public dollars (our taxes in many cases) into targeted jurisdictions, laundering campaign operations under the guise of philanthropy.

This system depends on secrecy. Without control over election administration, special-interest NGOs, and taxpayer-funded slush funds disguised as grants, the uniparty’s dominance crumbles. The growing demand for radical transparency, fueled by blockchain technology and financial forensics, is an existential threat to their scheme. As more Americans connect the dots between election corruption, bureaucratic control, and NGO money laundering, the only question left is not if their empire will collapse, but how long they can delay the inevitable?

The 2020 and 2022 Elections: Evidence of Systematic Manipulation

Privately funded election administration, disguised as “non-partisan integrity efforts,” injected untraceable money into targeted jurisdictions, overwhelmingly benefiting incumbents. NGOs funneled taxpayer dollars into election operations under the guise of philanthropy.

This system thrives on secrecy. If bureaucratic control over elections, NGOs, and taxpayer-funded slush funds were eliminated, the uniparty’s dominance would collapse. With growing public demand for transparency, how long can the establishment delay the inevitable?

Alaska’s Election System: A Modern-Day Political Machine?

Just as historical political machines controlled election outcomes, Alaska’s election bureaucracy oversees voting processes, ranked-choice voting (RCV), and campaign finance oversight to secure establishment control while suppressing grassroots opposition.

Restoring Fair Elections: Reforms for Alaska

• Eliminate Selective Enforcement: Campaign finance laws must apply equally, not be weaponized against challengers.
• Simplify Election Procedures: RCV confuses voters and undermines trust. Alaska’s elections must be clear, transparent, and accountable.
• Reaffirm Legislative Oversight: The state legislature’s role in election governance must emphasize clear laws, agency compliance, judicial accountability, and transparency, which establish uniform policies and procedures for all elections in the state. The Alaska State Legislature retains the authority to amend or repeal voter-approved initiatives per Article IX, Section 6, provided such actions comply with constitutional requirements and reflect the legislative process.
• Ban Government-Affiliated Election Funding – Prohibit government agencies and elected officials from indirectly funding campaigns through grants, state-funded organizations, or administrative resources.

Agencies in Need of Dismantling or Reform

1. Alaska Division of Elections (DOE)

• Problem: DOE implemented RCV through a voter-initiative which reformed the state’s election process. Does this fundamentally alter election outcomes to benefit establishment candidates? Currently, many see this lack of transparency in vote tabulation eroding public trust, picking winners and losers and not allowing meaningful change in state government.
• Solution: The Alaska State Legislature retains the constitutional authority to repeal RCV. It can mandate independent election audits.

2. Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC)

• Problem: Recent cases have demonstrated the appearance of APOC selectively enforced campaign finance laws, shielding insiders while failing to curb dark money influence in Alaska’s elections and attacking grass roots efforts.
• Solution: Require full disclosure of all out-of-state campaign donations and close loopholes that allow untraceable money to influence elections. Establish an independent election finance oversight board with investigative authority and powers to audit APOC’s decisions and ensure non-partisan enforcement of campaign finance laws. Limit contributions from PACs and non-governmental organizations, while requiring them to disclose donors and expenditures in real time. Implement automatic audits of all major political campaigns and ballot initiatives, rather than targeting only grassroots efforts or specific candidates.

3. Alaska Division of Legislative Audit

• Is the DLA conducting audits that disproportionately protect establishment figures while scrutinizing reformers?​ Are reports on election security and campaign finance being delayed or obscured, potentially undermining public trust?
• Recommendation: Overhaul DLA’s leadership structure to prevent politically motivated audits and mandate independent election integrity reviews.

Building a Responsive and Accountable Election Process

1. Election Law Changes

• Election rules should be established by voters through initiative but remain subject to legislative review and amendment under Article XI, Section 6 of the Alaska Constitution to ensure consistency, accountability, and adaptability.
• Require periodic independent reviews or audits of RCV’s performance, focusing on voter participation, ballot exhaustion, election costs, and voter trust.
• Legislation could condition the continuation of RCV or other voting methods on specific measurable benchmarks.
• The legislature can enact a statutory sunset clause, unless re-approved by the legislature and voters.

2. Strengthen Campaign Finance Transparency

• Mandate full public disclosure of out-of-state and PAC contributions.
• Enact statutory provisions requiring enhanced disclosure and reporting standards for all campaign contributions, including stricter limits on anonymous and third-party funding sources, to reduce the influence of undisclosed financial interests in elections.

3. Strengthen Voter ID and Ballot Security

• Implement universal voter ID requirements.
• Enforce strict chain-of-custody protocols for mailed and absentee ballots.
• Require live-streamed ballot counting and independent audits.

4. Use Recent SCOTUS Precedents to Challenge Election Manipulation

• Brnovich v. DNC (2021): Defends voter ID and election security laws. The Court ruled 6-3 that Arizona’s voting policies did not violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) or have discriminatory intent.
• Moore v. Harper (2023): Reaffirmed that state courts can review state election laws to ensure compliance with state constitutions. This prevents unchecked power within state legislatures.
• Challenge RCV under Article IV, Section 4: The Constitution guarantees a Republican Form of Government. RCV’s multi-round tabulation process distorts election outcomes and can be challenged on constitutional grounds.

Conclusion: Take Elections Back from Bureaucrats

Elections in Alaska must be controlled by voters—not bureaucrats, special interests, or political insiders. By dismantling or reforming DOE, APOC, and DLA, Alaska can restore election integrity and ensure fair and transparent processes.

This is not about partisanship. Every Alaskan vote must count, free from bureaucratic interference and dark money influence.

Michael Tavoliero writes for Must Read Alaska.

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