Summary
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that could limit when federal election mail ballots are allowed to be counted, and Alaska officials and advocates say the ruling could land hardest in rural parts of the state. Alaska counts mail ballots that are postmarked by Election Day if they are received within 10 days, or within 15 days for overseas voters. Supporters of the current approach say geography, weather and limited connectivity can delay delivery even when voters submit their ballots on time.
For Beaver, an Alaska Native village about 40 minutes by plane from the nearest city, regular flights are central to getting mail and supplies in and out, including election materials. Rhonda Pitka, a poll worker and first chief in Beaver, said Alaska’s processes have been in place “just to ensure that our ballots are counted.” She warned that if the Supreme Court decides that ballots must be received by Election Day, “They’ll be disenfranchising thousands of people — thousands of people in these rural communities.”
Pitka’s concern matches a broader dispute before the court: a challenge from Mississippi that tests whether ballots received after Election Day can be counted in federal elections. Alaska is among states described in the reporting as allowing mailed ballots postmarked by Election Day to arrive later and be counted, a flexibility that advocates say becomes critical in a state where most communities rely on air service for year-round access.
Alaska’s elections administration adds another timing pressure point. Under Alaska’s ranked-choice system for general elections, workers in small rural precincts place voters’ first choices into regional channels, but ballots ultimately must be flown to the state Division of Elections in Juneau for tabulation of races that are not decided outright. Even with the state’s 10-day grace period, ballots from some villages in 2022 were not fully counted because mail delays meant they arrived too late for tabulations in Juneau, 15 days after Election Day, according to the reporting.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski said in an interview that she expects the ruling could have “a more detrimental impact than ours” in Alaska. Murkowski described the Supreme Court case as part of a wider effort tied to voting-by-mail access and said she viewed it as aimed at ending voting by mail nationwide, pointing to how legal changes could affect states that rely on time for delivery and counting.
The Supreme Court case has been framed by both sides around the meaning of Election Day deadlines. The Republican National Committee argues that grace periods improperly extend elections for federal office, while Mississippi’s response says that “no voting occurs after Election Day,” only the delivery and counting of ballots already cast. The hearing comes as the U.S. Senate debates legislation pushed by President Donald Trump that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and a photo ID to cast a ballot, which Murkowski said could discourage voters.
Alaska’s congressional delegation also expressed the tension between national legal rules and practical counting needs. Rep. Nick Begich and Sen. Dan Sullivan, both Republicans and allies of Trump who are seeking re-election this year, said they support the SAVE America Act now before the Senate, while also saying ballots properly cast on or before Election Day should still be counted. Begich said during a recent visit to Juneau, “We’ll see what the courts choose to do on that issue, but I do think that we need to allow for time for ballots to come in from the rural parts of our state.”
In court filings tied to the dispute, Alaska officials highlighted logistics and connectivity limits that can affect delivery of ballots and election tallies. A filing by Alaska Attorney General Stephen Cox and Solicitor General Jenna Lorence described an incident in Atqasuk on Alaska’s North Slope in 2024, where poll workers counted votes on election night but could not get through to relay results by phone, so they mailed ballots and tally sheets; the Division, according to the filing, did not receive them until nine days later. The filing also argued that while it is clear when a ballot is cast, “when certain ballots are actually ‘received’ is open to different interpretations,” especially given Alaska’s “connectivity challenges.”
Lawyers for Native-focused groups warned that limiting grace periods could have disproportionate effects. The Native American Rights Fund and the Great Lakes Indigenous Law Center said in filings that limited postal service in rural areas can mean some ballots are not postmarked until they reach Anchorage or Juneau, after days of travel. They cited that in the 2022 general election, between 55% and 78% of absentee ballots from state House districts spanning from the Aleutian Islands up the western coast to the North Slope arrived at an election office after Election Day, and they said statewide about 20% of absentee ballots were received after Election Day.
Get Out the Native Vote director Michelle Sparck, a nonpartisan voting rights advocacy group affiliated with the Alaska Federation of Natives, said the case and the SAVE Act represent what she described as attempts to shift control of elections away from states. She said Alaska already has “enough inherent barriers” for many voters and warned that new rules could create confusion and fear among voters.