Justice Department asks judge to segregate Alaska Senate ballots
The Justice Department wants ballots ranking the non-incumbent Dan J. Sullivan preserved as it investigates alleged voter confusion.
By Dev Ramirez · Crypto Correspondent
· 3 min read
The Justice Department has asked a federal judge to order Alaska Senate ballot segregation for ballots that rank Dan J. Sullivan, the candidate who shares a name with the state’s incumbent Republican senator. The request concerns preserving paper ballots after they are cast, as the department investigates whether voters confused the candidate with Sen. Dan Sullivan.
The department’s request is not a court order. The materials available do not show that U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason granted it.
According to CNBC and NBC News, the Justice Department asked for an order before Monday requiring Alaska election officials to preserve and separate ballots that list the non-incumbent Sullivan at any ranking. In a court filing, the department said it wanted the ballots available for a potential inquiry into voter intent.
The request arrived shortly before Election Day, Nov. 3, in a race between the incumbent senator and Democratic nominee Mary Peltola. Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired schoolteacher running for Senate for the first time, is also on the ballot.
Why does DOJ want Alaska Senate ballots segregated?
The Justice Department alleges that Daniel J. Sullivan entered the contest to draw support away from Sen. Sullivan and help Peltola. It said preserving ballots that rank the other Sullivan could allow officials to examine alleged name-related confusion later if it could affect the outcome.
That allegation remains disputed. Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee denied involvement in Daniel J. Sullivan’s campaign, CNBC reported.
The civil case also seeks to prevent immediate certification of the Senate result if the incumbent loses by a margin that the Justice Department says could be tied to voter confusion. Alaska election officials, Peltola’s campaign and other intervenors have argued that the department lacks authority to stop certification merely because two candidates on a four-candidate ballot share a name, according to CNBC.
Separately, U.S. Attorney for Alaska Michael Heyman said a criminal investigation into how and why the non-incumbent Sullivan entered the race was ongoing. Heyman said the inquiry had been underway for months, CNBC reported, but he did not identify a criminal law that investigators believe may have been violated.
How ranked-choice voting complicates the request
Alaska uses ranked-choice voting, which lets voters list candidates in order of preference. Under the Alaska Division of Elections’ rules, first-choice votes are counted first. If no candidate receives more than 50% of those votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and ballots move to the voter’s next available choice until two candidates remain.
That means Daniel J. Sullivan can appear at a later ranking rather than as a voter’s first choice. Democracy Docket reported that the Justice Department’s filing did not spell out exactly how election officials would identify ballots affected by the alleged confusion.
Alaska’s elections division says the state uses paper ballots. Polling-place ballots are counted on election night, while absentee and questioned ballots for a general election must be counted within 15 days after Election Day. If additional ranked-choice tabulation is required, it begins after the final ballot count on that 15th day.
The department’s immediate request is therefore about retaining and separating ballots for potential later review, while the court considers the broader challenge to certification.
This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.
