Alaska elections office sends 3,000 citizenship letters

The Alaska Division of Elections has sent more than 3,000 letters to registered voters asking them to verify their citizenship ahead of the state's August 18 primary, a number officials describe as unusually high and which has prompted concern among some state lawmakers. The mailings, which began this week, target individuals whose voter registration records showed a potential mismatch with citizenship data held by the state's Division of Motor Vehicles.

Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher told lawmakers during a hearing that the routine voter roll maintenance process, which compares state voter lists with DMV records, typically yields about 200 names for further review. This year, however, the number surged to 3,048, according to division spokesperson Steve Kirch. Beecher attributed the spike to what appears to be a large amount of outdated data being flagged during the check.

The letters ask recipients to affirm their U.S. citizenship by mail, phone, or email, and officials emphasized they are not requiring formal documentation. Voters who receive a letter are moved to an inactive list but will still be able to cast a special ballot that requires them to attest to...