ANCHORAGE:  Shortly after rejecting Dan Sullivan’s anti-subsistence lawsuit, a court ordered Mead Treadwell’s Division ofElections to provide ballots in Yupiq, Cupik, and Gwich’in after Treadwell had refused to.  Yesterday’s court decision is the latest in a series of defeats in the Parnell Administration’s attacks on Alaska Native voting rights, subsistence, and tribal sovereignty.

“Dan Sullivan, Mead Treadwell, and Sean Parnell have waged a systematic assault on Alaska Native rights and traditions,” said Mike Wenstrup, Chair of the Alaska Democratic Party.

Mead Treadwell’s Failure to Provide Alaska Native Language Ballots:

A federal judge ruled that Mead Treadwell’s Division of Elections (DOE) is in violation of the Voting Rights Act for refusing to provide ballots and other election documents in Alaska Native languages.  The court said that Treadwell’s DOE effectively provided less ballot access to Alaska Natives than to individuals who speak Spanish.

Dan Sullivan’s Anti-Subsistence Lawsuit:

Dan Sullivan was a leader in the Parnell Administration’s controversial litigation against Katie John and subsistence, filing an anti-Katie John appeal in the 9^th Circuit.  However, Sullivan tried to hide his role in the lawsuit at a recent Alaska Native Village CEO forum. 

Sullivan/Parnell lost the anti-Katie John lawsuit when the Supreme Court decided not to hear the state’s appeal after Sullivan lost in the 9^th circuit, which is the latest of many defeats for the administration’s lawsuits against subsistence and tribal sovereignty.

The Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) applauded the defeat of Sullivan/Parnell’s anti-subsistence lawsuit, and AFN President Julie Kitka noted that “the people of Alaska overwhelmingly support subsistence.”  Shortly after the decision, Sullivan appeared at an Alaska Native Village CEO forum and was asked about the lawsuit.  Instead of admitting his role in it, he offered vague praise of subsistence while failing to admit his work against Katie John.

Former Governor Tony Knowles also criticized Parnell for resurrecting the anti-Katie John lawsuit, calling it a “zombie.”  By pursuing the lawsuit, Sullivan and Parnell were reversing a Knowles Administration decision to stop litigating against Katie John and subsistence.

  afn, Alaska, appeal, ballots, litigation, native language, subsistence, sullivan, treadwell, voter suppression