Anchorage Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews scheduled an emergency hearing for 9 a.m. on Monday, November 2, 2026, to address legal challenges demanding the opening of advertised absentee in-person voting sites across rural Alaska Native communities.
Two separate lawsuits filed by the Midnight Sun Independence Fund on October 29 and the Alaska Democratic Party on October 30 argue that unstaffed or closed locations violate state constitutional protections and federal language assistance rules. Legal complaints identified at least 18 rural polling places listed as active on the state election website that were not operating during the first week of early voting.
In an October 26 response to lawmakers, Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher wrote that 12 of the 18 flagged locations verified they were operating, while three declined to open and three had not replied. Beecher noted that "locations are free to change or extend their hours, up to the closing of the polls, to provide additional opportunities to vote."
Ballots in Remote Communities
For residents in villages such as Nanwalek, which lacks an Election Day precinct polling place, casting a ballot without a functioning local site requires flights across Cook Inlet to Tyonek, with round-trip flights from Nanwalek to Homer reportedly costing about $200 and air travel elsewhere reaching $450. The state election agency website has listed three locations as temporarily closed and removed three others without published explanations.
Earlier in 2026, Governor Mike Dunleavy vetoed a bipartisan measure to fund rural polling places and establish a dedicated rural voting liaison.
