A criminal defendant in Alaska is asking a judge to dismiss felony charges accusing him of falsely claiming U.S. citizenship on state voting documents, arguing he is a citizen under the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment because he was born in American Samoa.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A Whittier man charged with voter misconduct is asking an Alaska judge to dismiss his case, arguing the 14th Amendment makes him a U.S. citizen because he was born in American Samoa — a claim filed just as the U.
S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a landmark birthright citizenship case.improperly checked a box stating he was a U.S. citizen on state voting forms. Pese was born in American Samoa, a U.S. territory, and federal statutes and policies generally classify people born there as U.S. nationals but not U.S. citizens.residing in Whittier on same and similar charges: Nelson Vaimoa, Salvation Mikaele, Chelsea Talia, Elisapeta Pese, Grace Galea’i, Jan Talia, Mark Pese, and Mathew Pese, all of whom are related by blood or marriage, according to Pese. Pese’s attorneys argue that classification conflicts with the Constitution. The 14th Amendment states that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States,” and the motion contends the phrase “in the United States” includes U.S. territories.Alaska State Troopers went door-to-door in the Begich Towers Condominium, where most residents live, seeking to interview American Samoan residents following a complaint alleging noncitizen voting, according to the filing. During an interview at his home, Pese says investigators asked whether he was an American citizen or an American national. Pese told them he was a U.S. national and showed them his U.S. passport, which indicated he was not a U.S. citizen, according to the motion. Pese said the PFD form offered a “U.S. national” option, so he checked it. But at the DMV, he said officials told him voter registration forms had no such box — and directed him to check “U.S. citizen” instead. The state later charged Pese with two counts of first-degree voter misconduct, two counts of perjury and two counts of unsworn falsification, tied to allegations that he checked “yes” next to “I am a citizen of the United States” on absentee in-person ballot materials in 2022 and 2023, according to the filing. A grand jury indicted him in 2025. The filing says a state investigator told jurors the distinction between “U.S. citizen” and “U.S. national” was “clear as mud.”Pese said his family has been singled out because of where they were born. “The state’s criminal targeting of my family simply because we were born in American Samoa is extremely painful,” Pese said in a statement provided by his attorneys. He said he recently buried his mother, Miliama Suli, who had also been among those in his family facing charges, and that the state continued to pursue those charges even after her death. “As cancer weakened her body, she was forced to worry about whether her kids might go to jail and what would happen to her grandchildren if they did,” Pese said. He added: “We have gone from feeling like valued members of the community to feeling like unwanted criminals. This is not just wrong, it’s unconstitutional.”The motion, filed in Anchorage Superior Court, asks the judge to dismiss the indictment on the grounds that Pese is a U.S. citizen as a matter of constitutional law, meaning he could not have made a “false” statement by checking the “U.S. citizen” box. “The Constitution is clear,” said Neil Weare, co-director of the Right to Democracy Project, who represents Pese and his wife, Tupe Smith, who is also “If you are born under the sovereignty and jurisdiction of the United States, as Michael Pese was, you have a right to citizenship, full stop,” Weare said in a statement. “No president, congress, or state official has the power to change that.”Charles Ala’ilima, an American Samoan attorney who also represents Pese and Smith, said the people of American Samoa have chosen to remain under the U.S. flag. “So long as the people of American Samoa continue to choose to be under the U.S. flag — as they have for the last 125 years — the Constitution gives people born in American Samoa the right to U.S. citizenship,” Ala’ilima said. He said federal officials in the 1920s imposed “non-citizen” U.S. national status on American Samoans over the objections of local leaders. The state has rejected calls to dismiss the charges, arguing the defendants face serious felony charges set by the Alaska Legislature., Alaska Deputy Attorney General John Skidmore defended the prosecution: “Voting is a right of citizenship. To be clear, you must be a citizen to vote in Alaska in any election—federal, state, or local.”American Samoa is the only inhabited U.S. territory whose people are generally categorized at birth as U.S. nationals rather than U.S. citizens under federal law, according to the motion. The filing argues that the Supreme Court has repeatedly described U.S. territories as part of “the United States” and that the Citizenship Clause constitutionalizes a common-law principle of birthright citizenship. Two federal appeals courts have used the Insular Cases — a set of early 1900s rulings by the Supreme Court — to deny birthright citizenship in American Samoa. Pese’s attorneys argue those cases did not address the Citizenship Clause and should not be expanded. The filing further details confusion in Alaska agencies and local government about how to treat U.S. nationals from American Samoa in various contexts. The case is pending in Alaska Superior Court. The judge has not yet ruled on the motion. Pese currently has a discovery hearing scheduled for April 15. A ruling in Pese’s favor could also affect the eight co-defendants facing similar charges. Separately, the Alaska Court of Appeals has yet to rule in the related case of Tupe Smith, whose appeal on the same voter misconduct charges was argued in January.Alaska House budget panel advances $3,800 PFD in draft budgetWhittier American Samoan man cites 14th Amendment citizenship clause in bid to toss voter misconduct
Whittier News Whittier Samoans Whittier Voting Charges Alaska Voter Fraud Whittier Voter Fraud Alaska Elections Alaska Voting Ktuu Alaska News
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