Student Voting Project | Alaska

Voting at School

ID Requirements

All voters must show identification at the polls.  You can show your voter registration card,driver's license, state identification card, other current and valid photoidentification, birth certificate, passport, or your hunting or fishinglicense.  You can also show any of thefollowing that includes your name and current address: utility bill, paycheck,bank statement, government check or other government document. If you are knownto an election official, they may waive the ID requirement.  If you do not have proper ID, but you providedID at the time you registered, you can swear a declaration and vote a "questioned"ballot, which should be counted.  Student IDs count as a valid ID if they haveyour photo on them; cell phone bills, online printouts of utility bills, andstudent housing or dormitory bills should all also count as valid ID if theyhave your voting address on them.

First-time voters who register by mail must either havetheir identity verified by providing a copy of identification with theirregistration application, or by showing ID at the polls; this ID requirementcannot be waived if the election official knows you.  While you can vote a questioned ballot, thisballot will likely not be counted.

Registration Requirements

The Alaskavoter registration deadline is thirty days before the election, and mail-inregistrations must be postmarked by that date.  If you register in person before aregistration official-that is, at a regional office at the Division ofElections—you must show some form of ID, including but not limited to a driver'slicense, a state identification card, other current and valid photo ID, a birthcertificate, a passport, or a hunting/fishing license.

Residency Requirements

Alaskadefines voter residency as the place where your "habitation is fixed, and towhich, whenever absent, [you have] the intention to return."  In Alaska,your "present intention to establish a permanent dwelling" at your schooladdress is enough for you to establish residency.   Alaskalaw puts a lot of weight on where you choose to register to vote, and if youhave a current intent to remain for some period of time at your school address,you should be entitled to register and vote at that address.  Alaskaalso has a gain-or-loss provision for students with regards to residency.

Fighting Residency Challenges

If your registration is denied by a registration official,you are entitled to a written statement of the reasons for the denial, and thedenial should be subject to automatic review by the local superior court. Under Alaskalaw, if your registration is initially accepted, your residency should not be aground for challenging you at the polls under Alaska law.

Absentee Requirement

Alaska is a no-fault absentee state—anyone may vote absentee, including first-time voters. You can send in your application for an absentee ballot by mail, available on the web site of the Division of Elections by mail, fax, or even email (as a .pdf file), but it must be received by the Division of Elections by ten days before the election. To be counted, a mail-in absentee ballot must be postmarked on or before Election Day, and must be received within ten days after the election. You can also vote absentee ballot by fax in Alaska; your faxed application for a ballot must be received by 5:00 pm the day before the election, and you must fax your ballot back by Election Day at the latest. You will need to have a witness sign your absentee ballot envelope.

Voting at Home

ID Requirements

 All voters must show identification at the polls.  You can show your voter registration card,driver's license, state identification card, other current and valid photoidentification, birth certificate, passport, or your hunting or fishinglicense.  You can also show any of thefollowing that includes your name and current address: utility bill, paycheck,bank statement, government check or other government document. If you are knownto an election official, they may waive the ID requirement.  If you do not have proper ID, but you providedID at the time you registered, you can swear a declaration and vote a "questioned"ballot, which should be counted.  Student IDs count as a valid ID if they haveyour photo on them; cell phone bills, online printouts of utility bills, andstudent housing or dormitory bills should all also count as valid ID if theyhave your voting address on them.

First-time voters who register by mail must either havetheir identity verified by providing a copy of identification with theirregistration application, or by showing ID at the polls; this ID requirementcannot be waived if the election official knows you.  While you can vote a questioned ballot, thisballot will likely not be counted.

Registration Requirements

The Alaskavoter registration deadline is thirty days before the election, and mail-inregistrations must be postmarked by that date.  If you register in person before aregistration official-that is, at a regional office at the Division ofElections—you must show some form of ID, including but not limited to a driver'slicense, a state identification card, other current and valid photo ID, a birthcertificate, a passport, or a hunting/fishing license.

Residency Requirements

Alaska defines voter residency as the place where your "habitation is fixed, and to which, whenever absent, [you have] the intention to return."  In Alaska, your "present intention to establish a permanent dwelling" at your school address is enough for you to establish residency.   Alaska law puts a lot of weight on where you choose to register to vote, and if you have a current intent to remain for some period of time at your school address, you should be entitled to register and vote at that address.  Alaska also has a gain-or-loss provision for students with regards to residency.

Fighting Residency Challenges

If your registration is denied by a registration official, you are entitled to a written statement of the reasons for the denial, and the denial should be subject to automatic review by the local superior court. Under Alaska law, if your registration is initially accepted, your residency should not be a ground for challenging you at the polls under Alaska law.

Absentee Requirement

Alaskais a no-fault absentee state—anyone may vote absentee, including first-timevoters.  You can send in your application for anabsentee ballot by mail, available on the web site of the Division of Electionsby mail, fax, or even email (as a .pdf file), but it must be received by the Divisionof Elections by ten days before the election. To be counted, a mail-in absenteeballot must be postmarked on or before Election Day, and must be receivedwithin ten days after the election. You can also vote absentee ballot by fax in Alaska; your faxedapplication for a ballot must be received by 5:00 pm the day before theelection, and you must fax your ballot back by Election Day at the latest. You will need to have a witness sign your absenteeballot envelope.

[1] Alaska Stat. § 15.05.020(2).

[2] Alaska Stat. § 15.05.020(5).

[3]  Correspondence with Alaska Division of Elections (July 17, 2008).

[4] Alaska Stat. § 15.05.020(1).

[5] Id. §§ 15.07.070(b), 15.07.150.

[6] 1982 Op. Att'y Gen. Alaska No. 7, overruled in nonrelevant part by Cissna v. Stout, 931 P.2d 363, 369 (Alaska 1996);  see also Alaska Stat. § 15.15.210 (procedures for questioning voters); Alaska Stat. § 15.20.207 (residency is not a grounds for refusing to count a questioned ballot).

[7] Alaska Stat. § 15.07.070(c),(d) 

[8] Alaska Stat. § 15.07.060(c)

[9] Alaska Stat. § 15.15.225(c).

[10] Correspondence with Alaska Division of Elections (July 17, 2008).

[11] Id. §§ 15.07.060(e), 15.15.225(b), 15.20.207. 

[12] Alaska Stat.§ 15.20.010.

[13] Alaska Stat. § 15.20.081(b).

[14] Alaska Stat. § 15.20.081.

[15] Alaska Stat. § 15.20.081(d).