ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Diya TV) — Mary Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee are asking a federal judge to dismiss the Justice Department’s lawsuit seeking to block Alaska from certifying its Senate results under a specific election outcome. They also want permission to join the case and have the judge rule before Election Day, Nov. 3.
The Justice Department’s lawsuit targets a race featuring two Republicans with similar names: incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan and Dan J. Sullivan Jr., a challenger from Petersburg. The department argues that voters could confuse the two. It wants Alaska to withhold certification if the incumbent loses and the number of votes for the second Sullivan exceeds the incumbent’s margin of defeat.
That request would not automatically transfer votes or declare a winner. The department says officials should preserve the results while they investigate whether confusion affected the outcome. Attorney General Todd Blanche described the lawsuit as a way to put “guardrails in place” and determine whether voters’ choices were compromised.
Peltola’s campaign and the committee challenge both the legal basis for the case and the assumption behind it. Their filing argues that the federal government cannot use the National Voter Registration Act to direct Alaska’s election procedures. The law’s stated purpose includes protecting the integrity of elections, but the filing says that language does not authorize the Justice Department to stop a state from certifying results.
The Democrats also reject the idea that votes for Dan J. Sullivan should be treated as votes intended for the incumbent. “The Department of Justice’s assumption that every voter who casts a vote for Dan J. Sullivan really meant to vote for Senator Sullivan is insulting to voters,” the filing says.
Alaska’s ballot lists the incumbent as “Dan S. Sullivan” and identifies him as the incumbent. It lists the challenger as “Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.” The state uses ranked-choice voting, which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate wins outright, officials eliminate the last-place candidate and redistribute those ballots to voters’ next choices.
The two candidates’ ballot status has already faced legal challenges. Alaska election officials removed Dan J. Sullivan from the primary ballot, saying he had not filed a good-faith candidacy. A state judge reversed that decision in June, and the Alaska Supreme Court affirmed the ruling. The courts directed election officials to list the candidates in a way that distinguishes them.
Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee say the state’s earlier effort to remove the challenger raises doubts about whether election officials will vigorously oppose the Justice Department’s lawsuit. Their motion argues that the campaign and the committee have a direct stake in how officials count and certify the Senate race.
President Donald Trump said he ordered the Justice Department to file the lawsuit. Blanche said the department’s civil rights unit researched and drafted the complaint, and denied that Trump aims to take over Alaska’s election.
The case is before U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason. As of Monday, she had not set a hearing or issued a ruling. Peltola’s campaign asked her to act this week, before voters go to the polls.
The judge’s decision will determine whether the lawsuit proceeds and whether Alaska faces a federal restriction on certifying results under the scenario outlined by the Justice Department. The court has not ruled on whether voter confusion occurred or whether the department can obtain the relief it seeks.
