Polls Open in Anchorage as DOJ Deploys Monitors to Three Alaska Communities

Polls opened at 7 a.m. on Tuesday for the 2026 midterm elections, allowing Alaskans to cast ballots in person until approximately 8 p.m. Voters who were in line by the closing hour remained eligible to vote. Election officials reminded residents to bring identification, such as a driver's license or a voter card, to the polls.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced it is sending about 1,000 election monitors across all 50 states. This marks the first time the agency has deployed such a large monitoring effort nationwide. The monitors include personnel from the Civil Rights Division, other DOJ divisions, U.S. Attorney's Offices, and federal observers from the Office of Personnel Management.

In Alaska, federal monitors will be stationed in Anchorage, Dillingham, and the Kusilvak Census Area. The Justice Department stated that these observers will check for compliance with federal voting rights statutes and enforce provisions that protect the right to vote.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the DOJ Civil Rights Division commented on the deployment in a written statement. "I am very proud we are deploying the largest monitoring effort in DOJ history, and pursuing transparency for elections in an assertive and nondiscriminatory manner," Dhillon said.

Local residents in Anchorage and across the state have been voting since the morning. The Justice Department's presence adds a federal layer of oversight to the state's election process, with teams focusing on specific jurisdictions for this cycle.