ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Alaska state attorneys urged a federal judge on Saturday to permanently throw out a Justice Department lawsuit seeking to block certification of the state’s competitive U.S. Senate election if incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses.
The filing from the office of Republican acting Attorney General Cori Mills described the Trump administration’s complaint as meritless and characterized a federal proposal to separate ballots as impossible under state secrecy protections, the Los Angeles Times reported. The legal push came just three days before Election Day as U.S. District Judge Sharon L. Gleason considers whether to dismiss the case without holding a formal hearing.
Dispute Over ‘Decoy’ Candidate
The Justice Department filed suit on Oct. 22, asking the court to halt the certification of any victory by Democratic challenger Mary Peltola unless Sen. Dan Sullivan wins re-election, or until officials can determine whether voters were confused by an unaffiliated candidate with nearly the identical name, Daniel J. Sullivan. On Friday, federal prosecutors added an eleventh-hour request asking the judge to segregate every ballot that ranks the second Sullivan candidate.
Alaska officials sharply rejected that proposal in their Saturday brief, writing that the relief sought was inappropriate and impossible given the constitutional right of Alaskan voters to a secret ballot. The state noted that election workers already designed ballots to prevent errors by identifying the incumbent senator as a Republican and listing the challenger, a retired Petersburg schoolteacher, separately without a party label.
The Alaska Supreme Court upheld the second Sullivan’s ballot access earlier this year. State attorneys maintained that federal authorities hold no standing to meddle in state election certification, urging the court to let officials tally and certify the results without federal intervention.
Investigations and Allegations Mount
The Trump administration expanded its claims following a report by The New York Times alleging Democratic operatives and figures linked to Peltola’s campaign assisted in recruiting the second candidate to siphon votes from the Republican incumbent. Former Federal Election Commission member Hans von Spakovsky told Fox News that federal conspiracy statutes could theoretically apply if operatives provided undisclosed funding or organizational support to field a rival candidate.
Alaska U.S. Attorney Michael Heyman announced on Friday that federal prosecutors and the FBI were actively examining the recruitment efforts, though he stated investigators had reached no conclusions regarding whether a crime occurred. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, has also ordered a state-level inquiry into the matter.
Peltola strongly denied any personal role during a campaign event on Friday, saying she had no interest in encouraging extra competition and needed no assistance to defeat the incumbent senator. Sen. Dan Sullivan disputed her account in a Fox News appearance Saturday, accusing her campaign of orchestrating a deceptive scheme that treats voters with disdain.
What Comes Next
Voting rights organizations and Peltola’s legal team have also submitted filings supporting Alaska’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The American Civil Liberties Union warned in a brief that allowing federal executives to disrupt election mechanics based on broad assertions of election integrity would establish a hazardous precedent.
Judge Gleason is expected to rule shortly on whether the administration’s complaint will proceed or be dismissed with prejudice before the polls close on Tuesday.
