Tupe Smith v. State of Alaska

Case Overview

Tupe Smith, who was born in American Samoa and lives in Whittier, Alaska, was charged with first-degree voter misconduct after she checked the box for "citizen of the United States" on her voter paperwork. People born in American Samoa are U.S. nationals rather than U.S. citizens, a status that carries most of the benefits of citizenship but not the right to vote, and Smith told investigators she had been directed by local election officials to check the citizen box because the forms had no option for a U.S. national. On September 4, 2026, the Alaska Court of Appeals sided with her, reversing the trial court and clearing the way for the felony indictment against her to be dismissed.

The court held that the first-degree voter-misconduct statute (AS 15.56.040(a)(3)) requires the State to prove that a defendant acted with a consciousness of wrongdoing in deliberately making a false statement under oath, not merely that a statement turned out to be false. The grand jury that indicted Smith had been given the wrong legal definition of "intentionally," a point the State conceded on appeal, and had also heard inaccurate testimony from a trooper suggesting Smith admitted she knew she was ineligible to vote. The court concluded that the incorrect instruction and the misleading testimony likely caused the grand jury to indict when it otherwise would not have. The opinion, by Chief Judge Allard for a unanimous panel, drew amicus support from the American Civil Liberties Union and the Right to Democracy Project.

BrynoDC Coverage 1 video

YouTube

Alaska Supreme Court Reverses a Felony Voter-Fraud Charge | Tupe Smith v. Alaska

Sep 4, 2026

YouTube