Justice Department seeks to segregate ballots in Alaska Senate race

The Trump administration asked a federal judge Friday to order Alaska election officials to preserve and segregate ballots ranking independent Senate candidate Daniel J. Sullivan, as federal prosecutors investigate allegations that his candidacy was designed to confuse voters in Tuesday’s election.

Sullivan shares a first and last name with Republican incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan. The Justice Department wants an order before Monday directing officials to set aside ballots that rank the independent candidate so investigators can examine whether those rankings resulted from voter confusion. Alaska uses ranked-choice voting, with four Senate candidates on the ballot.

“These modest precautionary measures will be impossible after Election Day, so there is good cause for expedited consideration,” Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward wrote in a court filing. The filing did not explain how a ballot review would establish whether a voter was confused, NBC News reported.

The request is part of a civil case in which the administration is seeking to prevent Alaska from certifying the Senate results if the Republican incumbent loses because of what it calls “voter confusion.” Prosecutors also sought a preliminary injunction and expedited access to communications from Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee concerning any effort to recruit the independent Sullivan.

The filings followed a New York Times report that operatives linked to Peltola’s campaign helped recruit Daniel J. Sullivan, a former schoolteacher, to run. Republicans have accused Democrats of promoting his candidacy to draw votes from the incumbent and help Peltola. She and the DSCC deny involvement.

“I’m not interested in tricking voters,” Peltola said Thursday, adding that she “knew nothing about any other candidates on the ballot except for me and the incumbent.” The DSCC said it was “not involved with Dan J. Sullivan.” The committee has also accused Republicans of efforts to stack Alaska ballots to benefit their preferred candidates, according to CBS News.

At a Friday news conference, Alaska U.S. Attorney Michael Heyman said the Times report had prompted “a significant surge of law enforcement assets” to the state. He acknowledged a parallel criminal investigation but declined to identify potential crimes or say who might be involved. “I’m not making any assumptions on whether a crime has been committed or not,” he said.

Heyman said the investigation had been proceeding quietly for several months. The Justice Department had issued at least three dozen new subpoenas and document-preservation requests as of Thursday, including subpoenas to Peltola’s campaign and Daniel J. Sullivan’s campaign, NBC News reported. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has also ordered an investigation, according to CBS News.

State election officials initially found the independent Sullivan ineligible, calling his candidacy a “deliberate attempt” to confuse voters. State courts overturned that decision, ruling that officials lacked authority to exclude him based on their interpretation of “good faith.”

President Donald Trump said Friday that the similar names were “splitting up the vote illegally” and called the situation “a total fraud.” The independent candidate remains on the ballot.