Thinking about Elections

AMERICAN NATIONALS ARRESTED BECAUSE THEY VOTED

American Samoa is part of the US, but if you are born there, you don’t have US citizenship; you are only a “US national.” You can’t vote in most US elections, and you can’t hold public office in the US, but you can get a US passport and serve in the military, and you pay taxes. It’s confusing to American Samoans and to officialdom in the rest of the US. For instance, Hawaii’s voter registration form for many years had only one box to check: “U.S. Citizen/U.S. National.” They’ve corrected that since US nationals aren’t allowed to vote, but it underscores the confusion. The confusion led to arrests in a tiny Alaska community after a woman born in American Samoa won an election for school board. She says elections office staff instructed her to check the box US citizen. The state says she deliberately claimed citizenship. Whatever the claims, why should American Samoans not be able to vote? What’s going on?

American Samoa is still governed by US laws established in the 19th century when the US added territories it never intended to become states. In the words of Senator John C. Spooner at the time: “the territory becomes part of the US in the international sense while not being part of the US in the constitutional sense.” Citizenship and the Constitution did not follow the flag. This was a new policy on territories. Until then, all territories were destined to become states.

The US acquired American Samoa in a deal (1899) with Germany and the UK to divide up the islands. In 1898, the US acquired Cuba (occupied), Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines in the Spanish-American war.

American Samoa is the only US territory where people born there are not automatically granted citizenship.

https://apnews.com/article/alaska-american-samoa-voting-citizenship-claims-0c3487e9f7eedcf88a2642890d9c8b94