History is replete with public figures who have sought to consolidate their power or aggrandize their role as leaders by dominating their landscapes with images of their likeness.

In late December Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom handed over Alaska’s entire voter registration database to the U.S. Department of Justice to comply with an August demand issued by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon to provide ”… the registrant’s full name, date of birth, residential address, his or her state driver’s license number or the last four digits of the registrant’s social security number.”

The Assembly should close a costly loophole in Juneau’s election code for citizen initiatives. The current ambiguity around when petitioners get extra time to gather signatures undermines the charter’s clear standards and invites unequal treatment from one campaign to the next.