Justice Department files lawsuit over ballot confusion in Alaska Senate race

The Trump administration filed a lawsuit to stop the certification of Alaska's Senate election if Republican Senator Daniel Sullivan loses to Democrat Mary Peltola due to another candidate with a similar name. Alaskans will pick their senator in a ranked-choice vote with four candidates: Senator Dan Sullivan, Mary Peltola, Gerald Heikes, and a teacher named Daniel J. Sullivan. The Justice Department claims that if the incumbent senator loses because voters accidentally choose Daniel J. Sullivan instead, the election should be declared invalid. The government states that candidate Daniel J. Sullivan purposely tried to confuse voters by using a similar ballot name and party label as the senator, which could draw away votes and help Peltola.

Court Arguments And Background

In a court filing on Friday, the Justice Department stated that having Daniel J. Sullivan on the ballot misleads citizens who want to vote for the senator, adding that some supporters will likely vote for the wrong person by mistake. Other supporters might get confused about how to rank the three Republican candidates to beat Peltola and may skip ranking the senator completely. A sample ballot shows Daniel J. Sullivan listed first as Sullivan, Daniel J. Jr. with no party label, while Senator Sullivan is listed next as Sullivan, Dan S. as a registered Republican incumbent. Earlier in June, the Alaska Supreme Court decided that Daniel J. Sullivan could stay on the ballot after upholding a lower court ruling that reversed a state decision to remove him. Lawyers for Daniel J. Sullivan argued the state had no basis in law to kick him off the ballot or check his private motivations. Peltola's campaign did not respond immediately to requests for comment.

Context

Ranked-choice voting systems allow voters to rank candidates in order of preference rather than choosing just one. Candidate name confusion can sometimes happen in closely watched elections when multiple people share similar names or surnames. Legal challenges over ballot access often arise when state election decisions face court scrutiny.