Alaskans overwhelmingly oppose allowing non-U.S. citizens to vote in Alaska elections, according to a new poll.

Conducted April 27-30, the poll asked 616 likely voters the following question: “Do you believe that only U.S. Citizens should have the right to vote in Alaska elections? Or should non-citizens also have the right to vote in some Alaska elections?”

A clear majority (87%) were against non-U.S. citizen voting, while 8% were in favor and 5% were “not sure.”

The poll’s margin of error is ±3.9%, with a 95% level of confidence.

Four other questions were part of the poll as well, including one that seemed to be in response to the State of Alaska recently charging 10 Whittier residents with voter misconduct, because they allegedly voted illegally in recent elections. They were American Samoan Nationals, but not U.S. citizens.

…upon close reading, the language of Alaska’s Constitution “does not exclude non-citizens from voting; it only affirms that U.S. citizens who are residents of Alaska may do so.”

Again, a majority of Alaskans (55%) opposed letting non-citizen American nationals vote in Alaska elections, while 35% supported the idea.

The poll was commissioned by Americans for Citizen Voting, a national organization focused on ensuring that voting in U.S. elections is limited to U.S. citizens.

According to the group’s website, there is a misunderstanding by most people who assume that in order to vote in the United States a person must be a citizen of the United States.

“However, that isn’t always the case,” the groups notes. “Federal law requires citizenship in order to vote in a federal election, but the law does not apply to state and local elections. Unless a state’s constitution specifically states that only citizens can vote, the possibility of non-citizens legally voting exists.”

Americans for Citizen Voting notes that cities in Maryland, and California now allow non-citizens to vote in municipal and school board elections because the constitutions in these states are written in such a way to allow cities to determine voter eligibility.

“Only the constitutions of Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, and North Dakota state that only citizens of the United States are allowed to vote in elections,” the group’s website explains. “Every other state is vulnerable to cities allowing non-citizens to vote.”

Alaska’s constitution states: “Every citizen of the United States who is at least eighteen years of age, who meets registration residency requirements…may vote in any state or local election.”

The Alaska Policy Forum has noted that upon close reading, the language of Alaska’s Constitution “does not exclude non-citizens from voting; it only affirms that U.S. citizens who are residents of Alaska may do so.”

Additionally, there is a loophole when it comes to voter registration in Alaska. According to Alaska law, passed by voter initiative in 2016, a person is automatically registered to vote when they apply for a Permanent Fund Dividend. Given that non-residents can legally apply for a dividend, they receive a voter registration card upon applying for the PFD, and that’s all they need to show in order to vote.

PFD applicants who are not U.S. citizens have to actively “opt out” of the automatic voter registration, but this provides little safeguard against nefarious actors.

On the national level, the U.S. House passed legislation last month that would require proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections.

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