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Alaska Election Security Safeguards

This resource details the state’s laws and procedures that protect the integrity of the voting process and the accuracy of the vote count.

October 28, 2026
Voting & Elections
October 28, 2026
Voting & Elections
Preface

Every state has laws and rules that protect the integrity of the election process before, during, and after voting takes place. Here are some of Alaska’s key safeguards.

Before Voting

Alaska has rigorous checks in place to maintain clean voter rolls and ensure that voting systems are secure and accurate.

  • As an initial protection against ineligible registrations, federal law requires that registrants provide their driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number when registering to vote for the first time.
  • Federal law requires election officials to remove anyone from the voter rolls who has died, moved, or otherwise become ineligible. In Alaska, if a voter hasn’t voted or contacted election officials in four years, officials must mail them a notice requesting address confirmation or correction. If the voter doesn’t respond, their registration becomes inactive. If they do not vote or contact officials for another two general elections, they will be removed from the rolls. State law also requires the election director to obtain from the Bureau of Vital Statistics a list of everyone who has died at least once a month.
  • All voting systems in Alaska are tested by independent labs to check that they meet security standards.
  • State law requires bipartisan boards to conduct logic and accuracy tests on voting systems twice, first at the state level and then at the regional level. Logic and accuracy tests verify that voting systems are programmed to interpret voter markings and report vote totals accurately, before any voter casts a ballot.
  • Every tabulator in the state must print a zero totals report before use that confirms the count is beginning at zero. 

During Voting

Alaska has layers of safeguards to protect voting processes and ensure that only eligible voters can cast ballots. 

  • There is a paper record of every vote cast. Most voters hand-mark paper ballots, whether voting in person or by mail. Polling places also offer accessible voting systems with verifiable paper records for voters with disabilities.

  • In Alaska, bipartisan teams test voting systems, manage polling places, verify security seals, complete chain of custody documents, process and count absentee ballots, review provisional ballots, and canvass results. 

  • Mail ballot envelopes must be signed by both the voter and a witness 18 or older. 

  • Bipartisan boards review all mail ballot envelopes to ensure that the voter is eligible before the ballot is counted. This process is open to public observation.   

After Voting

Alaska’s safeguards do not end on election night. In the weeks after polls close, election officials go through a series of checks to confirm that vote totals are complete and accurate before certifying final results.

  • After polls close, Alaska requires two poll workers to print and sign a results report from each tabulator, showing the number of ballots cast and results.

  • After ballots are initially counted, election officials review and reconcile a variety of records, including tabulator results tapes and polling place records that show the number of voters who checked in and the number of ballots issued.

  • Alaska state law requires election officials to conduct a hand count audit of randomly selected precincts in each of the state’s 40 house districts, to verify electronic vote totals. 

More from the State Election Security Protections series