The Trump administration has initiated legal action to block the certification of the Alaska Senate election results should incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan lose his seat to Democrat Mary Peltola. The Justice Department's complaint centers on the presence of another candidate, a teacher named Daniel J. Sullivan, who is also listed on the ballot.
Alaskan voters are participating in a ranked-choice contest featuring four candidates: Senator Dan Sullivan, Mary Peltola, Gerald Heikes, and Daniel J. Sullivan. The government alleges that Daniel J. Sullivan is deliberately attempting to confuse the electorate by running with the same name and party affiliation as the incumbent senator. According to the Justice Department, this candidacy is potentially diverting votes that would otherwise go to the senator, thereby benefiting Peltola.
In a court filing submitted Friday, the Justice Department argued that the inclusion of Daniel J. Sullivan on the ballot threatens to mislead Alaskan citizens who intend to vote for the incumbent. The filing claims that some of the senator's supporters will likely vote for the other candidate by mistake. Furthermore, the department suggests that the presence of the two Sullivans may confuse voters regarding how to rank the three Republican candidates, potentially leading them to leave Senator Sullivan off their ballots entirely.
A sample ballot provided in the filing illustrates the confusion: Daniel J. Sullivan is listed first as "Sullivan, Daniel J. Jr." with no party affiliation, followed by Senator Sullivan, who appears as "Sullivan, Dan S. (Registered Republican) Incumbent." The Justice Department stated it filed the complaint to ensure that this "frivolous candidacy does not undermine the integrity of Alaska's election or the will of its voters." The department further asserts that the candidacy violates the National Voter Registration Act.
Earlier this year, the Alaska Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that allowed Daniel J. Sullivan to remain on the ballot. This decision overturned an initial finding by the state Division of Elections that the candidate was ineligible due to his alleged attempts to cause voter confusion. Lawyers for Daniel J. Sullivan have maintained that the state lacked any legal basis to exclude him from the ballot or to investigate his private motivations, arguing that state law does not empower officials to disqualify qualified candidates based on potential confusion.
If Senator Sullivan loses in November, the Justice Department intends to request an investigation into whether the election results would have been different had the votes cast for the other Sullivan been credited to the incumbent.
