Alaskans are fortunate to have a long history of secure elections. The Alaska Division of Elections, under lieutenant governors of both parties, has been a model of safety, security, and integrity. Rare instances of voter fraud in our state have been identified and prosecuted.
The League of Women Voters, nationally and here in Alaska, has long defended secure and trusted elections. That is why we must speak out about the decision in December 2025 to provide Alaska’s confidential voter registration data to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The data released — including voters’ full names, dates of birth, residential addresses, and driver’s license or Social Security information — raises serious concerns under the Alaska Constitution’s right to privacy and under federal privacy protections. Courts in California, Michigan, and Oregon have already rejected similar DOJ lawsuits seeking un-redacted voter data based on current federal law.
The agreement signed by the Lieutenant Governor states that the DOJ will review Alaska’s voter rolls and return a list of voters it believes may be ineligible. In other states where federal databases have been used for this purpose, mistakes have occurred, and eligible voters have been incorrectly flagged. Even if voters are placed on inactive status rather than deleted, it means citizens may need to take time and effort to prove that they should remain on the voter rolls.
In the meantime, confidential information about all Alaska voters has been provided to the federal government with no clear limits on how it may be used, where it will be shared, or how it will be protected. Alaska voters deserve answers. Why did the Lieutenant Governor agree to release our confidential information when other states have not? Why was our confidential information released? Who will have access to it? Alaska voters should demand accountability.
Marianne Mills and Pat L. Redmond
Co-Presidents
League of Women Voters of Alaska
Support for offshore wind energy
President Trump does not like windmills. In December, his Interior Department issued stop-work orders for five offshore windfarms along the Atlantic coast, putting thousands of workers out of a job just days before Christmas.
Thankfully, in a little over a month, federal judges have ordered all the projects to move forward, putting workers back on the job and keeping the projects on track to power more than 2.5 million homes and businesses.
Right now, families across the country are shouldering the strain of unaffordable energy bills. Offshore wind is a clean, reliable, and ready-to-go solution. These five projects are already creating thousands of local jobs and helping to transition states away from fossil fuels. This is fighting Climate Change.
This has been an intensely cold winter. Large portions of the country have been blanketed in snow and thousands of homes have lost power. While fossil fuel power plants struggle to stay on during winter storms, offshore wind is a reliable energy source that helps communities save money and keep the lights on. In fact, offshore wind is strongest in the winter and at night – right when we need it most.
I am calling on President Trump to stop his senseless attacks on offshore wind. Let the workers finish the job.
Billy M Lincoln
Toksook Bay, AK
Opposition to War Powers Resolution
Today (March 4th, 2026) U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) released the following statement regarding her vote on Senate Joint Resolution 104:
We in Congress can debate the merits of the War Powers Act, but the hard reality is that the President has committed U.S. troops to active engagement in combat with an enemy that has targeted and killed Americans for decades. We have lost six soldiers in this fight with the potential for more casualties. What our troops need now is for our Congress, and this country, to know that they are supported. It is for this reason that I oppose Senator Kaine’s War Powers Resolution—based on the practical implications of its passage.
As written, it requires removal of troops from hostilities, leaving no room for operations that have already started to reach an even partially successful conclusion to degrade Iran’s nuclear capabilities. As Iran attacks everything it can, from military bases to embassies to civilian targets, we cannot tie our military’s hands or abruptly leave our allies and partners to fight on their own.
There is no question that the President should have sought authorization from Congress before striking Iran on this scale, likewise bringing in our allies ahead of time as they now are equally in danger. However, the abrupt cessation of all offensive operations would not leave any Americans—soldiers, diplomats, or civilians—in the Middle East in a safer position.
The President acknowledged in his notification to Congress that no one knows the full scope and duration of military operations that may be necessary. It then becomes the duty of Congress to define the scope of this conflict, requiring the President to fully and transparently make his case for this action. We should begin drafting and debating an authorization for the use of military force, critically examining requests for supplemental funding, as well as conduct rigorous oversight hearings, so the American people know the limits and objectives of this military operation.
My focus is on the safety of America’s armed forces and the American civilians who are on the ground in the Middle East. At this point, we have little choice but to continue the military operation to degrade and destroy Iran’s capability for nuclear weapons. That will not happen without support for our U.S. military.
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski
Washington, D.C.