By TERRENCE SHANIGAN
This is the second article in a three-part series on Alaskan election integrity. Part 1 is below.
Alaskans are frustrated with the state’s election system—delays in counting, late ballot swings, limited in-person voting, a push for mail-in voting, and proposals to eliminate identification requirements. Many issues could be fixed administratively, yet officials seem unwilling to challenge the entrenched bureaucracy. Are they prioritizing political safety over their constitutional duty? Reform is needed to prevent cheating and corruption and to restore trust in our election system.
Alaska’s election system faces challenges in four critical areas: data, voting, fraud exposure, and ballot security.
In this installment of a three-part series, the focus is on data, with particular attention to two pressing issues: inaccurate voter rolls and the vulnerability of voter data.
Since 2019, Alaska’s legislature has blocked several election reform bills aimed at reducing errors, corruption, and cheating, instead prioritizing protectionism and preserving control over meaningful change. Using tactics like the binding caucus, government-first policies, and sidelining citizens, officials have kept voters uninformed and excluded. Many Alaskans lack the knowledge to ask tough questions or demand improvements, but it’s time to change that.
Apathy is no longer an option for the executive branch. Indifference to flaws in the system undermines electoral integrity, and inaction amounts to nothing less than malfeasance.
Rather than addressing genuine election concerns, too many politicians rely on divisive tactics, dismissing reform advocates as “election deniers” to shift focus away from the need for accountability and reform. This strategy targets individuals, making debates personal instead of policy-driven, and seeks to discredit through demonization—akin to playground name-calling. The problem worsens when government surrogates amplify these attacks, whether on social media or behind closed doors. This climate of fear silences citizens and even lawmakers, as many avoid speaking out to escape being unfairly labeled and dragged into controversy.
Restoring public trust in our voting system is essential. Politicians and bureaucrats unwilling to face tough questions without becoming defensive should reconsider their roles—if they can’t stand the heat, they must leave the kitchen.
The reality is stark for Alaskan residents: Between 2012 and 2024, there’s a great chance that malicious actors have compromised your personal information from a state database. This is a wake-up call for urgent action and accountability.
On Oct. 27, 2020, the Alaska Division of Elections revealed a data breach exposing the personal voter profiles of 113,000 Alaskans, including Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, driver’s license numbers, signatures, and party affiliations. The lieutenant governor downplayed it, claiming the breach was intended to “spread propaganda” and asserting the division “believes” the 2020 election integrity was unaffected.
Given the breach’s gravity, the Division of Election’s solution—a year of Lifelock protection for Alaskans whose data was compromised—was insufficient.
Hackers gained all they needed to exploit Alaska’s vulnerable vote-by-mail system, where ballots can be requested online and printed at home. Officials delayed informing Alaskans about the hack until after the election was certified, leaving voters in the dark. Inactive voter rolls and weak safeguards further enable fraudulent ballots to be cast in the names of those who rarely vote.
Dismissing the breach as a “ruse” overlooks the real danger. If a bank mishandled a data breach this severely, offering only Lifelock as a remedy, it would be deemed unacceptable. Alaskans deserve better—accountability and real action to secure elections.
The Division of Elections is grappling with tens of thousands of inactive and ineligible voters on its rolls, making Alaska’s voter registration system the most inflated and inaccurate in the country. With 611,000 registered voters—approximately 117 percent of the state’s eligible voting population—the rolls should reflect closer to 500,000 voters more accurately. An Oracle election data expert testified to the Senate State Affairs Committee in 2021 that Alaska’s voter rolls could be cleaned up in just two hours.
From 2019 to 2022, the Division of Elections provided its full voter database to legislative offices upon request. A bipartisan review exposed significant inaccuracies: individuals with multiple profiles, non-citizens with foreign addresses, deceased individuals, felons, and voters who had moved out of state, including one serving as an elected official elsewhere. Senators Mike Shower (R-Wasilla) and Bill Wielechowski (D-Anchorage) submitted 30 detailed concerns to the division via the Lieutenant Governor’s Office. Still, instead of addressing them, the division denied future database access.
In communities like Anchorage, this dysfunction explains why households receive ballots for strangers or multiple ballots for the same person. The division spreads flawed data statewide, like a virus, by failing to maintain accurate voter rolls, eroding public confidence in the electoral process.
The Division of Elections must conduct a comprehensive, nationwide voter verification process but instead relies on a fragmented and incomplete system of database checks that fail to ensure accuracy.
The Permanent Fund Dividend application process automatically sends applicant data to the Division of Elections without proper filtering. Even if a PFD applicant is ineligible, their voting eligibility isn’t verified—an oversight confirmed by Department of Revenue officials in 2021, undermining voter registration integrity. Implementing Multi-Factor Authentication could address this issue. Already used daily for banking, email, social media, and more, MFA adds a layer of security by requiring verification through multiple factors like passwords or physical tokens.
We must reject the notion that requiring proof of identity and reasonable time requirement before an election is discriminatory. Additionally, every ballot must be accounted for. A credible, high-integrity election system relies on trusted data and a reliable method to verify voter eligibility in Alaska’s elections.
Without accurate data and verified voters, the system is vulnerable to failure—what could possibly go wrong?
Without action, one thing is certain: Inflated voter rolls are a breeding ground for corruption. The executive branch holds the key to improving our election system.
Stay tuned for Part 3, where we’ll tackle Ranked Choice Voting, Fraud Exposure, and Ballot Security.
Terrence Shanigan is a lifelong Alaskan of Sugpiaq descent from Bristol Bay. He is also the co-founder of Mission Critical, is a combat veteran, an honored husband and a dedicated father.