State gives confidential information to feds on hundreds of thousands of Alaskans
The state law is clear—much of the information required to be submitted to register to vote is supposed to be kept confidential.
What’s also clear is that the Dunleavy administration improperly handed over confidential information on hundreds of thousands Alaskans to the U.S. Department of Justice simply because the Trump administration demanded it.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom and temporary Attorney General Stephen Cox have yet to be held accountable for this wholesale invasion of the privacy of Alaskans.
Dunleavy, Dahlstrom and Cox are among those who can’t say no to anything that comes from Trump.
Under state law the voter’s age, Social Security number, driver’s license number, identification number, place of birth and signature are confidential.
“A voter may also elect to keep their residential address confidential by providing a separate mailing address,” legislative attorney Andrew Dunmire wrote in a legal opinion requested by Anchorage Rep. Zack Fields.
The information can be released to a federal agency, but only if that is required by law.
Dunmire wote that three federal courts have determined that the Department of Justice did not have the right to demand the voter information it has sought from Alaska and other states.
“If those findings are found to be true and the DOJ is not using Alaska’s VRL (voter registration list) for ‘governmental purposes authorized under law,’ then disclosure of the confidential data under AS 15.07.195(c)(1) was improper,” Dunmire wrote.
Dunmire said it’s too late for the state to stop the disclosure to the feds, calling it a “bell that cannot be unrung.”
Dahlstrom, who is running for governor, has claimed that a “thorough” legal review preceded her decision to hand over the confidential information on all Alaska voters.
Alaskans deserve to see this dubious legal analysis from the office of AG Cox, who has yet to be confirmed by the Alaska Legislature.
Dahlstrom claims that it is a “disservice to Alaskans” to assert that she has done anything wrong, as I did here.
Dahlstrom also claims she did not violate the privacy of every Alaska voter.
She’s not telling the truth about what she did or the invasion of privacy that occurred with her blessing.
She approved a memo with the Justice Department that claims the state of Alaska proposed, requested and entered into this agreement with the feds.
Dahlstrom’s office has admitted that claim in the memo is not true and that the agreement was supplied to the state. I suspect she went along with this deception from the Trump administration, because she can’t say no to Trump.
Worse yet, the memorandum of agreement she approved does not say what she claims it says.
Dahlstrom or one of her employees produced a self-serving letter of half-truths that most of the state’s newspapers have now published.
“The MOU requires that, upon DOJ notification, Alaska will clean its voter list by removing ineligible voters within 45 days, but only in accordance with applicable state and federal laws. In practice, any voters identified through this process will be removed from the active voter list only after review by the Division of Elections,” the Dahlstrom press release says.
“Alaska remains firmly in charge of its voter rolls,” she claims.
But that’s not what the memo says. She has ceded a key duty to the Justice Department.
The memo says the state “will clean” its records by “removing ineligible voters” as determined by the Department of Justice within 45 days. It also requires the state to send the corrected voter list back to the Justice Department to “verify” that the state has followed directions.
Missing from the agreement is anything about acting “only in accordance with applicable state and federal laws. In practice, any voters identified through this process will be removed from the active voter list only after review by the Division of Elections.”
Dahlstrom failed to demand that such protections be included in the memo. She also failed to correct the claim that the state came. up with the idea of asking the Justice Department to review the voter rolls.
Dahlstrom should never have agreed to this deal with the Justice Department. She should never have carelessly released private information on hundreds of thousands of Alaskans that she has a responsibility to keep secret.
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State law mandates that this information is private. The Trump administration did not demonstrate that it wanted the information for lawful purposes, but the Dunleavy administration handed over all of this to the federal government anyway.
This is a section of the memo approved by Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom in which she agreed to make deletions to the Alaska list of registered voters within 45 days of getting directions from the Justice Department.