Alaska drops voter misconduct cases against American Samoans who checked ‘U.S. Citizen’ box, tell me about this news in (https://www.fox9.com/news/alaska-drops-voter-misconduct-american-samoans)

Alaska prosecutors dropped voter misconduct charges against 11 residents born in American Samoa who had checked the “U.S. Citizen” box on voter registration forms in the small community of Whittier, Alaska.The decision followed a ruling by a three-judge panel of the Alaska Court of Appeals that threw out felony voter misconduct charges against Tupe Smith, one of the accused residents who was arrested after winning an election to a regional school board.Key details of the case and decision include:

• Intent and Legal Standard: The appeals court determined that state law requires prosecutors to prove defendants acted with a “consciousness of wrongdoing”meaning they intentionally broke the law rather than making an honest mistake. The court also identified issues with a state trooper’s questioning of Smith and the subsequent grand jury indictment process.
• Prosecutorial Decision: Following the court ruling, Alaska’s Department of Law and Acting Attorney General Cori Mills announced that prosecutors could not prove the cases against Smith and the other defendants beyond a reasonable doubt, prompting the dismissal of all charges.
• Confusion over Status: People born in American Samoa are recognized as U.S. nationals rather than automatic U.S. citizens. While they hold U.S. passports and can serve in the military, they are generally not eligible to vote in U.S. state or federal elections unless naturalized. Smith stated that because voter forms lacked an option for “U.S. national,” local election officials had told her it was appropriate to select the citizen box.