Alaska might be the closest state to Russia, but that nation hasn’t expressed any interest in the 49th state’s elections, the head of the Alaska Division of Elections said by email on Friday.
Last week, the Associated Press reported that Russian officials requested permission to be present at polling stations in Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana during the Nov. 8 general election.
Josie Bahnke, director of Alaska’s elections, said the state has not received any requests from foreign election monitors, including Russia, to attend the general election.
According to the Associated Press, the Oklahoma secretary of state’s office received a letter in August from Russia’s consulate in Houston. The letter requested permission for one of the consulate’s officers to attend a precinct’s vote to study “the US experience in organization of voting process.”
Oklahoma turned down the request, and election officials and Louisiana and Texas also denied similar requests, saying state laws limit who can be present in polling places during an election.
U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner told the Associated Press that the Russian request was “nothing more than a PR stunt” and there are proper ways to participate as an international inspector.
This year, Russia has been accused of backing Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and is believed to be the culprit behind the hacking of email accounts possessed by the Democratic National Committee.
