Lisa Murkowski has one argument against the SAVE America Act, and she’s been using it for months. Rural Alaskans, she says, would have to fly 800 miles to Anchorage just to get an ID. Opposing the most popular election security legislation in a generation on the grounds of Alaskan geography sounds principled. The problem is it isn’t true.
James O’Keefe went to Unalaska — one of the remote communities Murkowski claims would be devastated by the law — and asked the local DMV employee whether island residents would have to travel 800 miles to Anchorage to register to vote or get an ID. The DMV employee said no. Local options exist. The 800-mile premise is false.
EXCLUSIVE: O’Keefe Uncovers Unalaska Election Officials Contradicting Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s SAVE Act Claims, Telling O’Keefe That Island Residents Do NOT Have to Travel 800 Miles to Anchorage to Register to Vote or Obtain ID
O’Keefe asked an Unalaska local DMV employee, “We… pic.twitter.com/oDGw1ETrEq
— James O'Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) August 25, 2026
Turning Point USA’s Frontlines series then sent Jonathan Choe to Savoonga, another remote Alaskan village, to ask residents directly. Ben Pungowiyi acknowledged that flying to Anchorage would be a burden — but then identified the obvious alternative that Murkowski somehow never mentioned: Alaska could mail ID cards to residents. The Post Office is generally the only federal building in these remote locations. The mail already reaches them. An ID mailed to their door would reach them too.
EXCLUSIVE: Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski is facing mounting criticism from rural villagers who accuse her of using them as political pawns.
Murkowski claims they would struggle to vote if President Trump’s Save America Act passes.
So we went straight to these remote areas to… pic.twitter.com/WgM4DMYZdu
— FRONTLINES TPUSA (@FrontlinesTPUSA) August 27, 2026
Michael Wongittilin, another Savoonga resident, noted that everyone in his community already has voter registration cards — meaning they’ve already cleared the documentation hurdle Murkowski claims is insurmountable. He said he doesn’t see how the SAVE America Act would harm his community.
Sylvia Toolie, Savoonga’s mayor, confirmed there’s no local DMV but said mobile or traveling DMVs have been floated as a solution. Then came the part that exposes Murkowski directly: she told Choe that Murkowski herself supports the idea of mobile DMVs but that pro-SAVE America Act proponents have been blocking it.
That’s a lie. There is nothing in the SAVE America Act that blocks mobile DMVs, traveling voter registration services, mail-based ID programs, or any other accommodation for rural residents. The law doesn’t prevent Alaska from solving its remote-access problem. It simply requires that when voters register, they demonstrate citizenship — through whatever documentation method the state makes available.
Murkowski has been allowed to hide behind the 800-mile figure for months. Local election officials, remote villagers, and now two separate investigative journalists have shown up in her state and found the same thing: the premise of her argument doesn’t hold.
She used to support voter ID provisions. She’s on record doing it. The positions she held before deciding to be the SAVE America Act’s most prominent Republican opponent are documented and accessible.
What changed? That’s the question nobody has answered yet. Alaskan residents are being used as props for a position that the actual residents of the communities in question don’t recognize as accurate. The only explanation that makes sense is this: Her Trump Derangement Syndrome is acting up. Again.
Murkowski is up for reelection in 2028. Alaska is watching what she’s doing with the next two years. So is the rest of the country.
