Judge dismisses bid to block Alaska Senate election certification

A federal judge on Sunday dismissed the Trump administration’s lawsuit seeking to block certification of Alaska’s Senate election if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses, ruling that the government had offered no workable way to investigate disputed votes without compromising ballot secrecy.

U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason found that the Justice Department lacked legal standing to bring the case because it had not shown that a court order could remedy the harm it alleged. The lawsuit focused on another Senate candidate with a similar name: Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher. The administration argued that voters might mistakenly choose him instead of the incumbent, potentially benefiting Democrat Mary Peltola.

“More fundamentally, the United States provides no workable plan as to how it proposes to segregate ballots cast for Daniel J. Sullivan on Election Day and then conduct a court-ordered unspecified ‘investigation’ of those ballots in a manner that would preserve voter secrecy,” Gleason wrote.

She said ordering ballots cast for the other Sullivan to be separated so those voters could be investigated by law enforcement would violate Alaskans’ right to a secret ballot. The suit also sought to prevent certification if the senator loses Tuesday’s election. Alaska’s Republican-led state government urged the court on Saturday to reject that request, NBC News reported.

The senator, meanwhile, said he would honor the result. “I’m going to accept the election results,” he told CNN on Sunday, while accusing Peltola and other Democrats of trying to manipulate the race. He called their alleged effort “rigged and corrupt.” Peltola and her campaign have denied involvement in recruiting the other Sullivan. “I am not interested in tricking voters,” she said at a campaign event, according to CBS News.

A New York Times report last week alleged that people associated with Peltola’s campaign had sought a candidate who could draw votes from the incumbent. NBC News reported that Peltola’s former campaign manager, Elisa Rios, described efforts to recruit another Dan Sullivan and said Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee operatives took part. Rios later sought to retract her comments. Peltola told KTUU on Friday that she had “no idea” whether someone on her campaign could have been involved, Al Jazeera reported.

The Justice Department amended its lawsuit after the Times report, adding a claim that the court should intervene to prevent what it called a “conspiracy,” according to CBS News. The department is also conducting a criminal investigation into the alleged recruitment effort. No one in the race has been charged with a crime.

Alaska’s Republican governor, Mike Dunleavy, has ordered a separate investigation and said its findings could affect certification, NPR reported. The Alaska Supreme Court ruled in June that Sullivan Jr. had a right to run, according to NPR.

The two candidates appear on Alaska’s ranked-choice ballot as Dan S. Sullivan, identified as the Republican incumbent, and Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., Al Jazeera reported. More than 86,700 Alaskans had voted early, according to state figures cited by NPR. A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the ruling.