On September 4, the Alaska State Court of Appeals issued an order to stop the ongoing criminal prosecution of Tupe Smith. Smith v State of Alaska, A-14529. Here is the order.

Tupe Smith, who was born in American Samoa, was elected to the School Board of Whittier in 2023. But then it was discovered that she should never have been allowed to register to vote, because she had been born in American Samoa and had never been naturalized. American Samoans are the only people who live in a U.S. possession who are not deemed to be U.S. citizens at birth. Instead they are classed as “U.S. Nationals.”

When Smith registered to vote in Alaska, there was no checkbox for “U.S. National”. She asked the election official for advice and was told to check the box that said she was a citizen. The State Court of Appeals noted that in order for her to be prosecuted for the felony of falsely registering to vote, the Alaska law requires that the prosecution show that the misconduct was made “intentionally.” The court then concluded that Smith had not intentionally done anything wrong. The opinion contrasts “intentionally” with “knowingly”.