10 Alaskans born in American Samoa plead not guilty in voting case highlighting citizenship issues

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Ten Alaska residents pleaded not guilty Thursday to voter misconduct or other charges in cases that have renewed attention on the complex citizenship status of people born in the U.S. territory of American Samoa.

Those facing charges — most of them related to one another — were born in American Samoa but live in the isolated Alaska community of Whittier, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) south of Anchorage. The state contends they falsely claimed U.S. citizenship when registering or attempting to vote. An attorney representing the defendants says many of them are citizens.

American Samoa is the only U.S. territory where residents are not automatically granted citizenship by being born on American soil, as the 14th Amendment to the Constitution dictates. Instead, they are considered U.S. nationals. American Samoans can serve in the military, obtain U.S. passports and vote in elections in American Samoa. But they cannot hold public office in the U.S. or participate in most U.S. elections.

A grand jury this week returned indictments with felony and misdemeanor counts, almost a year after Alaska State Troopers descended on Whittier to deliver court summonses. Some of the defendants were in court Thursday afternoon in Anchorage, while others attended virtually.

The case is related to that of Tupe Smith, who was arrested shortly after winning election to a regional school board in 2023 and who has been charged separately. Smith, born in American Samoa, has asserted she marked a box claiming to be a U.S. citizen at the instruction of election workers because there was no way to identify herself as a U.S. national, according to court records.

The state has said she falsely and deliberately claimed citizenship. Prosecutors pointed to the language on the voter application forms she filled out in 2020 and 2022, which explicitly said that if the applicant was not at least 18 years old and a U.S. citizen, “do not complete this form, as you are not eligible to vote.”

Smith's case is before the state Court of Appeals. Attorneys for the state have argued that the question of citizenship for American Samoans “is not before this court and the voter misconduct statute at issue here is not and cannot be the solution to this difficult problem.”

The 10 defendants in the separate case include Smith's husband, Michael Pese; his mother, who has cancer; seven other relatives; and one man who grew up in the same village in American Samoa as Michael Pese.

Matt DiTullio, an assistant public defender representing the 10, told a judge Thursday that most of them are U.S. citizens — information he said he has shared with prosecutors.

Jenna Gruenstein, an attorney with the state Office of Special Prosecutions, pushed back, saying it was her understanding that the state had asked for evidence to back up DiTullio's argument but that the state has yet to receive that.

Neil Weare, an attorney for Smith, in an interview noted her appeal is pending as the other cases proceed. Weare is the co-founder of the Right to Democracy Project, an advocacy group for people from U.S. territories.

The Pacific Community of Alaska has urged Alaska's attorney general not to pursue the matter, saying even officials in Whittier and at the state level have been confused about whether American Samoans are eligible to vote and have provided people with at times incorrect information.

The group also said the state did not perform its due diligence in determining citizenship status before pursuing charges.

Associated Press writer Becky Bohrer contributed from Juneau.

Michael Pese, one of the 10 American Samoa natives charged by the state of Alaska for voting irregularities, waits for his arraignment in a courtroom Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025, in Anchorage, Alaska, while his son Maximus naps. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

FILE - Michael Pese and his wife Tupe Smith pose for a photo with their son Maximus and daughter Cataleya in Whittier, Alaska, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)

FILE - A sign supporting citizenship for American Samoans is posted outside the Log Cabin Gifts store on the waterfront in Whittier, Alaska, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An ailing astronaut returned to Earth with three others on Thursday, ending their space station mission more than a month early in NASA’s first medical evacuation.

SpaceX guided the capsule to a middle-of-the-night splashdown in the Pacific near San Diego, less than 11 hours after the astronauts exited the International Space Station.

“It’s so good to be home,” said NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, the capsule commander.

It was an unexpected finish to a mission that began in August and left the orbiting lab with only one American and two Russians on board. NASA and SpaceX said they would try to move up the launch of a fresh crew of four; liftoff is currently targeted for mid-February.

Cardman and NASA’s Mike Fincke were joined on the return by Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russia’s Oleg Platonov. Officials have refused to identify the astronaut who had the health problem or explain what happened, citing medical privacy.

While the astronaut was stable in orbit, NASA wanted them back on Earth as soon as possible to receive proper care and diagnostic testing. The entry and splashdown required no special changes or accommodations, officials said, and the recovery ship had its usual allotment of medical experts on board. It was not immediately known when the astronauts would fly from California to their home base in Houston. Platonov’s return to Moscow was also unclear.

NASA stressed repeatedly over the past week that this was not an emergency. The astronaut fell sick or was injured on Jan. 7, prompting NASA to call off the next day’s spacewalk by Cardman and Fincke, and ultimately resulting in the early return. It was the first time NASA cut short a spaceflight for medical reasons. The Russians had done so decades ago.

The space station has gotten by with three astronauts before, sometimes even with just two. NASA said it will be unable to perform a spacewalk, even for an emergency, until the arrival of the next crew, which has two Americans, one French and one Russian astronaut.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

This screengrab from video provided by NASA TV shows the SpaceX Dragon departing from the International Space Station shortly after undocking with four NASA Crew-11 members inside on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This photo provided by NASA shows clockwise from bottom left are, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui gathering for a crew portrait wearing their Dragon pressure suits during a suit verification check inside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows recovery vessels approaching the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 capsule to evacuate one of the crew members after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members re entering the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members re entering the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)