Amata’s Awareness PSA Reminding U.S. Nationals Not to Vote in Other Jurisdictions

Washington, D.C. - Congresswoman Uifa'atali Amata is reminding U.S. nationals from American Samoa that under current U.S. and state laws they absolutely cannot vote in elections outside of American Samoa unless they personally become U.S. citizens before voting.

"It's incredibly important to not become confused over this: U.S. nationals cannot vote outside our elections in American Samoa. Even if the poll workers do not stop you from voting, and you have a state driver's license, it's still not allowed, and can lead to huge legal problems," said Congresswoman Amata. "If you want to vote in the United States, you must become a citizen first, even if you've lived in a U.S. community for many years."

"Until we are certain that we have widespread 100 percent awareness of this fact, it's helpful to have a reminder to be sure the word is out, and protect friends and family from a legal nightmare. It's very important to make sure your graduating high schoolers who are still U.S. nationals know this clearly when they turn 18 and potentially go away to jobs and college," Aumua Amata continued. "For those choosing citizenship, I have a bill to help that process for U.S. nationals, but nationals risk prosecution by voting in any state that requires U.S. citizenship to be eligible to vote, unless state law were to expressly provide that U.S. nationals also may vote in that state's elections."

Amata has introduced the American Samoa Statutory Nationality and Citizenship Act (H.R. 6158) to help individual U.S. nationals more readily transfer into U.S. citizenship as a personal choice, while not affecting American Samoa's current status, which for over 125 years has protected the family land and chiefly (matai) systems within the traditional fa'a Samoa (Samoan way).

The bill protects both collective self-determination for American Samoa and the individual rights of U.S. nationals, by enabling elective United States citizenship for individuals, and she will be posting more information about the bill in the months ahead.

"I am saddened by the voting case in Alaska, and I hope the wonderful people of Alaska, where I've visited many times, will be forgiving of this mistake by the local U.S. nationals in their community," Amata concluded. "Rather, I hope that this can become an educational moment, that the Lord can 'work together for good' by preventing future problems through public awareness while restoring our people in Alaska with compassion."

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