Judge blocks DOJ effort to halt Alaska Senate count over name confusion

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., dismissed a lawsuit on Sunday that sought to block the certification of Alaska’s U.S. Senate race if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses. The Justice Department filed the suit less than two weeks before the Tuesday election, seeking an investigation into whether votes for a retired teacher named Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. were intended for the senator.

U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason determined that the relief sought by the United States was infeasible because early voting was already underway. She noted that cast ballots had been commingled to the point where the identity of the voter for each ballot could no longer be determined. Gleason wrote that the government provided no workable plan to segregate ballots cast for the junior Sullivan on Election Day while preserving voter secrecy during a subsequent investigation.

The legal dispute centers on a ballot that lists both Sullivan and the retired teacher, who is also named Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. Republicans suspect that Democratic candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign recruited the decoy candidate to confuse voters. A New York Times report based on interviews, text messages, and campaign finance documents indicated that an operative trying to recruit decoy candidates was paid by a group backing Peltola. Sullivan told CNN’s State of the Union that he doubted Peltola’s claims that she was unaware of her top aides’ involvement. "There is no way this went on for a year that they weren’t informing her," Sullivan said.

Peltola, a former U.S. Representative, has maintained she had nothing to do with recruiting the other candidate. She described the focus on the name issue as a distraction from high prices caused by the war in Iran. Before a rally on Friday, Peltola told KTUU, "I have no idea," when asked if someone on her campaign was involved. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has also denied involvement in the strategy.

President Donald Trump ordered the Justice Department to file the lawsuit and called for Peltola to be prosecuted after the New York Times report emerged. Federal agents issued subpoenas in Alaska, and the state governor, a Republican, ordered an investigation while suggesting he might not certify a Peltola victory. Senator Tim Scott, who heads the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, said criminal charges might make sense. "We know that it is criminal for candidates to work in collusion with other parties to confuse voters," Scott said on NBC’s Meet the Press.

Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, called the strategy in Alaska "pretty dumb" but noted it is not illegal. He said on CBS’s Face the Nation, "It’s what happens in every election." Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland agreed, calling it "stupid politics." Sullivan said he would let lawyers determine if crimes were committed but expected to lose votes due to the name confusion. He stated he would accept the results of the election.

The lawsuit’s dismissal leaves the path open for the certification of the ranked-choice election results. The race includes two other candidates who have done little campaigning. Sullivan campaigned on Saturday night at a trunk-or-treat event north of Anchorage, where he wore a costume and joked that he was the real Dan Sullivan.