Samoa-born Alaskan Resident Caught in Voting Controversy

WHITTER, Alaska (AP) – Nestled between glacier-filled mountains and the picturesque Alaska Prince William Sound, the cruise ship stop in Whittier is remarkably isolated, accessible by only one road that runs through a lengthy tunnel shared with a train. With a mere 260 residents, nearly all of them inhabit the same 14-storey condominium.

However, Whittier stands at an unexpected crossroads of two significant trends in American politics: the discussion of citizenship and misconceptions about non-citizen voter fraud that have gained traction. Alaskan prosecutors describe the case as unprecedented, as they seek felony charges against 11 local residents—most of whom are related—for falsely asserting U.S. citizenship during voter registration.

The accused were all born in American Samoa, a cluster of islands in the South Pacific, located midway between Hawaii and New Zealand. While they are considered “American citizens” under peculiar historical circumstances, they are not automatically granted citizenship by the Constitution.

Due to historical nuances, these individuals have certain rights and responsibilities, but others are denied. American Samoans can obtain U.S. passports and serve in the military, and men are required to register for selective service. They can vote in local elections within American Samoa but cannot hold public office in the U.S. or participate in most federal elections.

To pursue U.S. citizenship, individuals must navigate a complex and costly process.

“I see myself as an American. I was born on American soil,” stated Michael Pess, one of the accused in Whittier. “American Samoa has been under U.S. jurisdiction for 125 years. According to the highest law, that’s my right by birth.”

Voting Confusion Isn’t Solely an Alaskan Dilemma

This situation has also led to confusion in other states.

In Oregon, officials unknowingly registered around 200 American Samoan residents as voters after they obtained driver’s licenses under state motor vehicle laws. The Oregon Secretary’s office reported that 10 of these individuals voted. Officials concluded that there was no intention to break the law, and no crime was committed.

In Hawaii, Sai Timoteo, born in Samoa, USA, attempted to run for state legislature in 2018 only to discover she was ineligible to serve or vote. She had always understood voting responsibilities according to citizenship, often checking the box labeled “US citizens.”

“I did that my whole life,” she recounted, managing to avoid accusations, while Hawaii later revised the voting form for clarity.

Is U.S. Citizenship a Birthright?

Amid a flurry of executive orders from Trump during his second term, attempts were made to redefine citizenship by proposing to ban citizenship for children of non-permanent migrants. Other orders attempted to overhaul federal election procedures, requiring proof of citizenship from voters.

However, courts have blocked both orders. The Constitution clearly states that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subjected to its jurisdiction, are citizens of the United States.” Furthermore, election management remains a states’ responsibility.

The situation in Whittier arose from Pess’s wife, Twope Smith. After moving to Whittier in 2018, Smith volunteered at the local community school, where she discovered that nearly half of the 55 students were American Samoans, many of whom were her relatives. She offered assistance with English, read to the children, and cooked traditional Samoan meals.

In 2023, when a seat on the local school board became available, she ran unopposed and won with about 95% of the vote. A few weeks later, while preparing breakfast for her children, state troopers arrived to inquire about her voting history.

She clarified her understanding that she was ineligible to vote in federal elections but believed she could vote in local or state elections. Under the guidance of electoral staff, she had checked the box asserting her U.S. citizenship on her registration documents.

The trooper arrested her and took her to a women’s prison near Anchorage, where she was released the same day after her husband paid her bail.

“My son cried when they handcuffed me,” Smith relayed to the Associated Press. “He told his dad he didn’t want the police to take me away.”

The Intent Issue

Approximately ten months later, the trooper returned to Whittier and issued court summons to Pess, eight of his relatives, and another individual.

One of Smith’s attorneys, Neil Ware—who grew up in Guam, another U.S. territory—and co-founded the Washington-based Democracy Project aimed at dismantling the undemocratic colonial system affecting U.S. territories, commented that the lack of evidence for widespread non-citizen voting likely targets “low-hanging fruit.”State-level studies show that fraudulent voting by non-citizens is extremely rare.

“It’s clear that Smith did not intend to deceive government officials when she checked ‘U.S. citizens’ for voter registration,” he argued.

Prosecutors, on the other hand, assert that her claims of citizenship were deliberate, pointing to the precise language in the voter applications she filled out in 2020 and 2022, which state that if an applicant does not answer “yes” to being over 18, “you should not complete this form.”

Conflicts Tied to Colonialism

The distinctive situation of American Samoans is rooted in 19th-century geopolitical interests, when U.S. and European powers were vying for colonial and economic dominance in the South Pacific.

The U.S. Navy established Pago Pago Port in eastern Samoa as a coaling station for military and commercial vessels, while Germany sought to protect coconut plantations in western Samoa. Ultimately, the islands were divided, with the western islands becoming independent Samoa and the eastern portion becoming American Samoa, administered by the navy.

American Samoan leaders spent much of the late 19th and early 20th centuries advocating for their people’s right to U.S. citizenship. While citizenship was granted to residents of other U.S. territories like Puerto Rico and Guam, Congress declined to extend the same to American Samoans in the 1930s, citing both economic considerations from the Great Depression and possibly racial prejudices. Articles from 2020 in the American legal history magazine reported this history.

Proponents of automatic citizenship argue it would benefit around 150,000-160,000 American Samoan residents in the U.S., particularly in states such as California, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, Utah, and Alaska.

“We pay taxes and lead lives just like everyone else who is a U.S. citizen,” Smith expressed. “It’s vital that we have the same rights as others in this state.”

Legal Questions Surrounding Tested Status

Nonetheless, many in American Samoa are concerned that expanding birthright citizenship could unintentionally disrupt local customs, including existing territorial land laws.

Land privatization could affect island residents. What occurred in Hawaii? questioned Siniva Bennett, chair of the Samoa Pacific Development Corporation, a nonprofit based in Portland, Oregon.

“We have managed to preserve our culture. Like many other indigenous peoples in the U.S., we have not commodified our land,” Bennett remarked. In 2021, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to extend automatic citizenship rights to American Samoans, arguing against imposing citizenship on those who do not desire it. The Supreme Court chose not to review this decision.

Certain jurisdictions permit non-citizen voting in specific local elections throughout the country, including in San Francisco and the District of Columbia.

Tafiri Saunoa Torreihaa, part of the Pacific community in Alaska, noted that this situation had become so convoluted that her organization reached out to the Alaska election department in 2021 and 2022 to clarify whether American Samoans could vote in local and state elections. Repeated inquiries yielded no direct answers.

“Some people told our community that as long as they had their voter registration cards issued by the state, they were eligible to vote,” she explained.

Eventually, last year, Carol Beecher, head of the state election division, sent a letter to a local group stating that American Samoans are not eligible to vote in Alaska elections. By that time, however, many had already signed the voting form.

“It is a lesson I’ve learned, and I hope Alaska acknowledges that this could be corrected administratively,” Torahua stated. “I believe the state could have taken different action instead of prosecuting community members.”