A sign posted on Aug. 18, 2024, outside of the Alaska Division of Elections office in Midtown Anchorage directs voters to the polling place inside. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
“There oughta be a law” is a common expression when people are frustrated with the behavior of others, the rules of society or the actions of their elected officials.
Well, Alaskans will have an opportunity in the statewide primary election Aug. 18 to approve a new law, limiting the dollar size of donation checks to political campaigns of candidates running for the state Legislature and governor’s office.
This is the chance for voters to do something about taking the money out of politics, limiting big-donor influence and fighting inflation — Alaskans can’t do anything about the price at the gas pump, but they can knock down the escalating cost of running for public office.
The new law would not limit free speech for Alaskans who want to post on social media, knock on doors, give lectures, buy advertising or send junk mail to promote their favorite candidate. It would merely limit how much money they can give to a candidate’s campaign or other political advocacy groups that favor a particular candidate.
A citizens petition drive put the question on the ballot after a federal court struck down the state’s limits on contributions in 2021 and after the Legislature failed to pass a new law in 2022 and again in 2024. Lawmakers succeeded in passing campaign limits this year, but Gov. Mike Dunleavy used his well-worn veto pen, which may be running out of ink, to kill the legislation because he does not believe in limiting political donations.
That leaves it to Alaskans to make the decision whether to place reasonable limits on just how big of a fat check anyone or any group can write for a candidate’s campaign for public office.
The ballot measure would limit individual contributions to $2,000 for each candidate. Individuals could give up to $5,000 to political parties. Groups could write larger checks: $4,000 to candidates, with the same $5,000 limit on donations to groups and parties.
Opponents of the initiative say in their statement in the state election guide: “By putting a cap back on individual donations, this act makes it harder for regular people to have a big impact.” How many “regular people” can afford to hand over more than $2,000 per candidate in each election? That’s a regularly poor excuse to continue the practice of unlimited donations.
In 2006, 73% of Alaska voters cast their ballots to limit campaign donations to $500 for an individual. Though the court struck down those limits in 2021 as too restrictive, backers of this year’s measure have taken the court ruling into account and believe the higher limits will survive a legal challenge.
It’s worth a try. My vote is yes for all the regular people who cannot afford to write more than a $2,000 check.
More than 2,800 Alaskans are on a list of alleged noncitizens registered to vote in the state, according to a document obtained by the Alaska Beacon via a public records request.
The list includes people flagged for a variety of reasons, not just the data-sharing arrangement with DMV, but the DMV data appears to be the reason why most people are on the list.
This year, the Division of Elections compared the entire state’s list of active voters with DMV data, a new practice. Prior procedure involved comparing only a fraction of the list.
After this year’s comparison, the Division of Elections moved more than three thousand voters to the inactive list with the condition code “NC,” meaning noncitizen.
People on the inactive list can still vote, but only if they fill out additional forms to prove their identity. In addition, someone on the inactive list is on a path to be purged from the state’s voter rolls altogether.
A problem with the procedure used by the Division of Elections this year is that many of the relevant DMV records are old, and many registered voters have become citizens since obtaining driver’s licenses as noncitizens.
According to a series of interviews conducted by the Beacon and a review of the list of alleged noncitizens, the problem appears to be most acute for Alaskans who became naturalized citizens between 2016 and 2026.
After the DMV-related removals, more than 600 people have contacted the division to say that they are citizens and that they were removed in error. More than 100 people have said they were not citizens.
More than 2,000 of the removed residents haven’t responded to a letter sent by the Division of Elections about the change.
How to check your voter registration It’s worth checking your voter registration status right now, considering how many Alaskans have been pulled from the active voter registration list.
It’s easy. You just need to know your name and the community where you get your mail.
Just click this link. You can even check for a friend or neighbor.
In December, as part of a federal effort to identify noncitizen voting, the Alaska Division of Elections shared a copy of its active voter roll with the U.S. Department of Justice. Most states have refused to turn over their data, citing privacy concerns. In Alaska, privacy advocates sued the state over the issue. That lawsuit is not expected to be resolved until after the election.
The Beacon consulted with immigration attorneys and privacy experts after receiving its public records request and has decided to not publish the list.
The New York Times reported Monday that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is using lists like the one obtained by the Beacon to target Americans for deportation.
The large number of errors within Alaska’s list could cause innocent residents to be targeted by the federal government.
Immigration attorney Margaret Stock said she is representing a military spouse who is seeking to become a permanent noncitizen resident of the United States, but that person was incorrectly registered to vote by the DMV and is on the list despite canceling her registration soon after.
Last year, the inadvertent registration of a Kodiak couple exposed that the DMV had been improperly registering noncitizens to vote for years, even if they had indicated that they were not citizens.
It isn’t clear why the Division of Elections expanded its data-sharing arrangement with the DMV, or why it used DMV data rather than Permanent Fund dividend data, which is updated annually. The Division of Elections has not answered questions from the Beacon or state legislators.
Of the 2,809 people on the list of possible noncitizens, 2,502 are listed as “undeclared” voters — the default for new registrants who haven’t picked a political party. The list includes more registered Republicans (122) than Democrats (100), Libertarians (3) or Green (5) voters.
There are more women (1,556) than men (1,244). More than half (1,589), say they live in Anchorage, but there are many people on the list from Fairbanks, Juneau, Kodiak and Unalaska. There are some in rural Alaska, too — in places like Kotlik, Elim and Galena.
Seven hundred and sixty-three have voted at least once in a state or federal election. Unless they prove their citizenship, that could make those people subject to criminal prosecution.
Already, the state has charged 11 Whittier residents for voting without citizenship. Those defendants remain on the list provided to the Beacon on Friday.
Why we didn’t publish the list
The Division of Elections supplied the Alaska Beacon with a list of the 2,800 voters it recently removed from its active voter list.
The Beacon strongly considered publishing those people’s names and locations, so they would know what happened. We thought friends and neighbors would be able to check up on each other if they read the article.
But we considered, too, that the people on the list could be targeted by either the federal government or by malicious people who believe people on the list are breaking the law.
We weighed the potential harm against the potential benefits and decided that since it is easy and free to check your voter registration status, we would not publish the names and locations of the alleged noncitizens.
If you want to check to see if you are on the list, email us at info@alaskabeacon.com, and we’ll check privately.
Reject stickers await ballot envelopes Wednesday, June 15, 2022 at the Division 1 office of the Alaska Division of Elections in Juneau, Alaska during counting for Alaska’s special U.S. House primary election. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Editor’s note: This article was updated after initial publication to include a warning letter sent by the Alaska chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union to the Division of Elections.
More than 2,800 Alaskans are on a list of alleged noncitizens registered to vote in the state, according to a document obtained by the Alaska Beacon via a public records request.
Of the 2,809 people on the list of possible noncitizens, 2,502 are listed as “undeclared” voters — the default for new registrants who haven’t picked a political party. The list includes more registered Republicans (122) than Democrats (100), Libertarians (3) or Green (5) voters.
There are more women (1,556) than men (1,244). More than half (1,589), say they live in Anchorage, but there are many people on the list from Fairbanks, Juneau, Kodiak and Unalaska. There are some in rural Alaska, too — in places like Kotlik, Elim and Galena.
Seven hundred and sixty-three have voted at least once in a state or federal election. Unless they prove their citizenship, that could make those people subject to criminal prosecution.
Already, the state has charged 11 Whittier residents for voting without citizenship. Those defendants remain on the list provided to the Beacon on Friday.
The list includes people flagged for a variety of reasons, not just the data-sharing arrangement with DMV, but the DMV data appears to be the reason why most people are on the list.
This year, the Division of Elections compared the entire state’s list of active voters with DMV data, a new practice. Prior procedure involved comparing only a fraction of the list.
After this year’s comparison, the Division of Elections moved more than three thousand voters to the inactive list with the condition code “NC,” meaning noncitizen.
People on the inactive list can still vote, but only if they fill out additional forms to prove their identity. In addition, someone on the inactive list is on a path to be purged from the state’s voter rolls altogether.
A problem with the procedure used by the Division of Elections this year is that many of the relevant DMV records are old, and many of the affected voters have become citizens since obtaining driver’s licenses as noncitizens.
According to a series of interviews conducted by the Beacon and a review of the list of alleged noncitizens, the problem appears to be most acute for Alaskans who became naturalized citizens between 2016 and 2026.
After the DMV-related removals, more than 600 people have contacted the division to say that they are citizens and that they were removed in error. More than 100 people have said they were not citizens.
More than 2,000 of the removed residents haven’t responded to a letter sent by the Division of Elections about the change.
In December, as part of a federal effort to identify noncitizen voting, the Alaska Division of Elections shared a copy of its active voter roll with the U.S. Department of Justice. Most states have refused to turn over their data, citing privacy concerns. In Alaska, privacy advocates sued the state over the issue. That lawsuit is not expected to be resolved until after the election.
The Beacon consulted with immigration attorneys and privacy experts after receiving its public records request and has decided to not publish the list.
The New York Times reported Monday that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is using lists like the one obtained by the Beacon to target Americans for deportation.
The large number of errors within Alaska’s list could cause innocent residents to be targeted by the federal government.
Immigration attorney Margaret Stock said she is representing a military spouse who is seeking to become a permanent noncitizen resident of the United States, but that person was incorrectly registered to vote by the DMV and is on the list despite canceling her registration soon after.
Last year, the inadvertent registration of a Kodiak couple exposed that the DMV had been improperly registering noncitizens to vote for years, even if they had indicated that they were not citizens.
It isn’t clear why the Division of Elections expanded its data-sharing arrangement with the DMV, or why it used DMV data rather than Permanent Fund dividend data, which is updated annually. The Division of Elections has not answered questions from the Beacon or state legislators.
Shortly after this article was published, the Alaska chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union said it had sent a letter to the Division of Elections and Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, warning that the ACLU and other groups share the belief that the state has violated state and federal law for a variety of reasons, including the timing of the removals and because notice letters that were sent to affected voters only in English.
The letter asks the division to take eight “remedial steps” in order to fix the problem, including additional training for poll workers so they are able to help Alaskans affected by the removals.
Should the state not take action, the letter would serve as a pre-lawsuit notice required by federal law.
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The piece, which has no byline, reports that Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) — who is locked in a competitive campaign against Democrat Mary Peltola — “is leading efforts to combat fentanyl trafficking and support law enforcement agencies confronting the epidemic.”
A screenshot of an Alaska Navigator post published by One Nation.
Curiously, although Sullivan has been in the Senate for more than a decade, the piece cites only one piece of evidence: Sullivan’s vote for the HALT Fentanyl Act in March 2025. Sullivan was one of 84 senators to vote for the bill, which classified fentanyl-related substances as schedule I narcotics. But Sullivan did not lead the effort to pass the HALT Fentanyl Act. He was not the bill’s sponsor or one of its 16 original co-sponsors. (Sullivan became a co-sponsor on March 6, 2025, about a week before it passed the Senate).
The Alaska Navigator also reports that “Retired Alaska Wildlife Trooper Director Doug Massie, who spent 25 years in law enforcement… credits Senator Sullivan with supporting tougher penalties for traffickers and policies aimed at reducing the drug’s impact on communities throughout the state.” But there is no direct quote from Massie, who is running for the Alaska state legislature as a Republican, or an explanation of why Sullivan deserves credit. There is no record of Massie making a public statement about Sullivan on fentanyl or any other topic.
Both the content and tone are highly unusual for an independent news outlet. That is because the Alaska Navigator is not an independent news outlet. Rather, it is a website fully controlled by One Nation, a dark money group that works in concert with the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF), the super PAC of Senate Republicans. One Nation has directly contributed over $70 million to the SLF this political cycle.
A screenshot of an Alaska Navigator ad on Facebook published by One Nation.
One Nation has ensured that Alaskans see this content by spending tens of thousands of dollars on Meta ads promoting Alaska Navigator articles since June. These ads further distort reality. For example, the fentanyl article was promoted with an ad declaring there was a “New Bill to Crack Down on Fentanyl Trafficking, Supported By Dan Sullivan.” But the only bill mentioned in the article was the HALT Fentanyl Act, which was signed into law in July 2025.
While the ad discloses it was paid for by One Nation, it does not disclose that Alaska Navigator is owned and operated by One Nation. That fact is only revealed in small, faint type at the very bottom of the Alaska Navigator website.
Alaska Navigator’s domain, thealaskanavigator.com, was registered on March 20, 2026. The website, however, includes an article dating back to January 2026, making it appear more established. That article was added using a tool called FakerPress, according to the website’s source code. FakerPress markets itself as “a clean way to generate fake and dummy content.”
The fake Alaska news outlet is one of at least six operated by One Nation in states with key U.S. Senate races. Popular Information identified these sites through disclosures in their Meta advertisements. The other five sites in the network include:
New Hampshire Daily (“An independent news organization dedicated to covering the stories that matter most to Granite State residents”)
Collectively, One Nation has spent between $198,900 and $274,640 promoting these sites on Meta platforms. Maine Policy Updates has been operating since January, but most of the ad spending for the other sites began in June.
Iowa Voice features a story headlined, “Iowa Farmers Say Potential ‘Death Tax’ Threatens Family Succession Plans.” The piece praises Ashley Hinton, the Republican candidate for Senate, for being “an original cosponsor of the Death Tax Repeal Act, legislation that would permanently repeal the federal estate tax.” The piece highlights that supporters of the bill believe it would “make it easier for family farms and small businesses to remain in family hands across multiple generations.” The piece does not mention that the estate tax impacts only 0.3% of farms. It also does not quote or paraphrase a single farmer.
Other content on these sites mirrors One Nation’s TV ads. A July 30 article on Peach State Post falsely suggests that Senator Jon Ossoff opposes increasing the Child Tax Credit. A One Nation political ad, which has blanketed the state over the last several days, contains the same attack.
The sites attempt to appear more legitimate by cutting and pasting content from actual news outlets. The Peach State Post recently published a story under the headline “Former Atlanta city officials Bickers, Beard who were convicted in corruption cases denied clemency by Trump.” At the end of the piece it says, “Read more here” and links to 11Alive, an Atlanta news website. But the story on Peach State Post contains the full text of 11Alive’s story. There is nothing more to read. There is no indication that Peach State Post secured permission to repost 11Alive’s work. The article is presented as Peach State Post’s original work.
One Nation, which is organized as a 501(c)(4), is not required to disclose its donors. So it is unknown who is bankrolling its fake websites or other activities.
One Nation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Popular Information is an independent newsletter dedicated to accountability journalism.
