Justice Department Seeks to Block Certification of Alaska Senate Result if Republican Loses
publishers 37articles 41first reported 23 Oct, 15:15 UTCdeveloping since 23 Oct · 9 editions
The U.S. Justice Department has filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent Alaska from certifying its Senate election if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan narrowly loses to Democratic challenger Mary Peltola and votes cast for another candidate named Dan Sullivan could change the outcome.
The complaint, filed less than two weeks before Election Day, argues that the second Sullivan’s candidacy could confuse voters and reduce support for the senator. Alaska’s ballot identifies the incumbent as a registered Republican and incumbent, while the other candidate appears without those labels. The state uses ranked-choice voting.
The second Sullivan, a retired teacher and registered Republican from Petersburg, was initially removed from the ballot, but a judge reversed that decision and the Alaska Supreme Court upheld the ruling. According to Common Dreams, the Justice Department does not allege that he coordinated directly with Peltola.
President Donald Trump said he pushed for the legal challenge. Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the lawsuit Sunday, calling the contest “not a fair fight.” He said the department was asking a federal court to consider federal law and, if necessary, permit Alaska to determine whom to certify, rather than asking the federal government to select the winner.
The requested order would delay certification of a Peltola victory if assigning the other Sullivan’s votes to the incumbent would reverse the result, allowing officials to investigate voter intent.
HOW THIS STORY WAS MADE
Written from 8 articles, 2 with the publisher's own text; 8 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 48 h after the record first saw the story; the editor kept it as written.
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- Source articles
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- Given to the writer
- 8, 2 with the article's own text
- Independent newsrooms
- 8
- This version written
- 48 h after the record first saw the story
- Second model (editor)
- kept as written
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WHAT THE EDITOR DID
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