Dunleavy administration hides legal advice on voter privacy debacle
The head of the state Division of Elections, who is supervised by Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, refused Wednesday to release the legal advice provided to her by the Department of Law that led her to reveal private information on all Alaska voters to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Asked by Sen. Bill Wielechowski if she would release the legal advice from state lawyers, Elections Director Carol Beecher did not want to respond.
“I will be conferring with the Department of Law in regard to your question,” Beecher said.
Wielechowski asked why she had to talk to the Department of Law when the decision on releasing the information is entirely up to her.
Legally, the decision is entirely up to her. There is no basis for claiming it should remain secret or for her excessive hemming and hawing.
“This is an issue of concern to hundreds of thousands of Alaskans,” Wielechowski said. “You have the ability to waive any potential attorney-client privilege.”
Beecher said she was not willing to waive that privilege. And she didn’t have a clear answer about whether if she had the chance to do this over again, if she would decide things differently.
In terms of the state bureaucratic hierarchy, my guess is she doesn’t want to release the legal advice because it would make Dahlstrom, who is running for governor, look bad. It would make the governor look bad. And the still-secret advice would also make Cox, who faces a confirmation vote, look bad.
Cox and Dahlstrom each had a key part in sharing confidential information on all Alaska voters with the Trump administration, violating state law and the Alaska Constitution. That they can’t admit their mistake and are hiding behind their subordinates is shameful.
Beecher and Assistant Attorney General Rachel Witty both drew the short straw in having to ask pointed questions posed by Wielechowski, Matt Claman and others at a joint meeting of the judiciary and state affairs committees Wednesday.
The Legislature should press Dahlstrom to release all the legal information she or Beecher received from Cox and the Department of Law.
The three-part legislative response suggested by former Attorney General Bruce Botelho is sound.
Obtain all the legal analysis provided by the attorney general’s office on this matter. Seek written waivers of the attorney-client privilege and get hold of all written exchanges on the release of confidential voter information.
Propose a legislative resolution that declares private voter information needs to remain private. It should not be shared unless there is a clear legal purpose for sharing it, as well as a public review and safeguards consistent with the constitutional right to privacy.
Support or file a lawsuit to have the agreement with the Department of Justice declared illegal because the lieutenant governor did not have the authority to share private information on all voters with the Department of Justice.
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