"If passed by voters, PFD Voter would synchronize voter registration with the Permanent Fund Dividend application process, reducing bureaucratic paperwork and saving on processing costs. PFD Voter Registration is projected to register as many as 70,000 Alaskans to vote in the first year alone, and would fix out-of-date registration for tens of thousands more."
But given Republican efforts to suppress voting around the country (see for instance Bill Moyers and Company's Unbeliebable GOP Statements on Voter Suppression or Al Jazeera's Republicans use vote suppression as electoral strategy or American Prospect's Voter Suppression: How Bad? (Pretty Bad)),
Alaska GOP leaders have new incentive to just kill the PFD program altogether in their antipathy to g to income taxes and to long term thinking. That way they could raid the Permanent Fund and make sure it's not easy for Alaskans to register to vote.
Meanwhile, someone has a petition at iPetitions to limit PFD's to people born in Alaska and their Alaska resident spouses and children.
[Sorry, reposting because of Feedburner issues.]
Took down my earlier remarks as I found the initiative website with the answer to my concern:
ReplyDeleteQ: WILL WE STILL BE ABLE TO REGISTER TO VOTE LIKE WE CURRENTLY DO?
A: Yes. This initiative does not change the conventional voter registration system, it adds an additional way for Alaskans to become registered to vote. Alaskans who do not receive a PFD or who want to update their registration manually may still do so using the regular form from the Division of Elections.
Funny, but I still sometimes find myself not going to the internet when internet sourcing does just fine, thank-you-very-much.
There is getting to be less and less 'local' knowledge.
Regarding the iPetition, any idea how many "not born in" Alaska residents will be cut from the PFD?
ReplyDeleteHow will this monetary loss effect Alaska senior citizens?
Thank you for another great blog post!
None at all. Maybe the petitioner just wants to find a spouse - the only way non-Alaskan born folks can become Alaskan is to marry an Alaskan.
Delete"Who would get the PFD then? (1) Current Alaska residents who were born in Alaska; (2) the spouses and children of those born in Alaska as long as they also reside in the state of Alaska with the spouse or parent, even if they were born outside of Alaska.
The bottom line is: If you were born in Alaska, you are an Alaskan. If you have lived most or all your life in Alaska, you may be Alaskan, but why take the chance? Just marry an Alaskan..."