ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) \u2014 A state appeals court is being asked to dismiss felony voter misconduct charges against an Alaska resident born in American Samoa\u2026<\/b>
\nA state appeals court is being asked to dismiss felony voter misconduct charges against an Alaska resident born in American Samoa, one of numerous cases that have drawn attention to the complex citizenship status of people born in the U.S. territory.
In arguments Thursday, attorneys for Tupe Smith plan to ask the Alaska Court of Appeals in Anchorage to reverse a lower court\u2019s decision that let stand the indictment brought against her. Her supporters say she made an innocent mistake that does not merit charges, but the state contends Smith falsely and deliberately claimed citizenship.
Prosecutors also have brought charges against 10 other people from American Samoa in the small Alaska community of Whittier, including Smith\u2019s husband and her mother-in-law. American Samoa is the only U.S. territory where residents are not automatically granted citizenship by being born on American soil and instead are considered U.S. nationals. Paths to citizenship exist, such as naturalization, though that process can be expensive and cumbersome.
American Samoans can serve in the military, obtain U.S. passports and vote in elections in American Samoa, but they cannot hold public office in the U.S. or participate in most U.S. elections.
Smith was arrested after winning election to a regional school board in 2023. She said she relied on erroneous information from local election officials when she identified herself as a U.S. citizen on voter registration forms.
In a court filing in 2024, one of her previous attorneys said that when Smith answered questions from the Alaska state trooper who arrested her, she said she was aware that she could not vote in presidential elections but was \u201cunaware of any other restrictions on her ability to vote.\u201d
Smith said she marks herself as a U.S. national on paperwork. But when there was no such option on voter registration forms, she was told by city representatives that it was appropriate to mark U.S. citizen, according to the filing.
Smith \u201cexercised what she believed was her right to vote in a local election. She did so without any intent to mislead or deceive anyone,\u201d her current attorneys said in a filing in September. \u201cHer belief that U.S. nationals may vote in local elections, which was supported by advice from City of Whittier election officials, was simply mistaken.\u201d
The state has said Smith falsely and deliberately claimed citizenship. Prosecutors pointed to the language on the voter application forms she filled out in 2020 and 2022, which explicitly said that if the applicant was not at least 18 years old and a U.S. citizen, \u201cdo not complete this form, as you are not eligible to vote.\u201d
The counts Smith was indicted on \u201cdid not have anything to do with her belief in her ability to vote in certain elections; rather they concerned the straightforward question of whether or not Smith intentionally and falsely swore she was a United States citizen,\u201d Kayla Doyle, an assistant attorney general, said in court filings last year.
One of Smith\u2019s attorneys, Neil Weare, co-founder of the Washington-based Right to Democracy Project, said by email that if the appeals court lets stand the indictment, Alaska will be \u201cthe only state to our knowledge with such a low bar for felony voter fraud.\u201d
___
Bohrer reported from Juneau, Alaska.
Copyright
\u00a9 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.<\/p>\n