Legal status of Alaska

The legal status of Alaska is the standing of Alaska as a political entity. Generally, the debate has primarily surrounded the legal status of Alaska relative to the United States of America. Alaska is considered to be a state of the United States of America. Nonetheless, Alaska's legal status within the Union has been disputed at times, most recently by a movement launched by Joe Vogler and the Alaskan Independence Party (AIP). In disputes over the legal status of Alaska, a key issue has been the tension between its de facto and de jure international standing.

Alaska became a territory of the United States in 1867, when it was purchased from the Russian Empire. Events in the 20th century such as World War II and the Cold War led to the decision to add Alaska as a state to the American Union. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Alaska Statehood Act into United States law on July 7, 1958, which paved the way for Alaska's admission into the Union on January 3, 1959.

The vote for statehood was held in 1958. Voters approved the measure by a 6 to 1 margin. Critics of Alaskan statehood, though, claim the vote was flawed. In an interview with WorldNetDaily, Alaskan Independence Party chairman Mark Chryson asserted that Article 76, Section B of the United Nations Charter, which suggests that trust territories should be given the option of independence, should have applied to Alaska, even though it was never a trust territory. The options on the ballot were for statehood or to remain a territory. There was no option for independence on the ballot.

Critics of the vote also note that American military personnel voted in the election. This objection is based on an unsubstantiated allegation that "international law" requires that only the civilian population of a territory may vote. Despite the criticism, the United Nations decolonization committee later removed Alaska from the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.

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