The Trump administration has sued Alaska election officials, asking a federal court to block certification of the state’s November Senate election results if votes may have been affected by confusion between two candidates named Dan Sullivan.
The Justice Department’s complaint concerns Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, who is seeking reelection, and Daniel J. Sullivan, another candidate whose name appears on the ballot. The filing alleges the second candidate’s campaign could confuse voters who intend to vote for the incumbent. Alaska uses ranked-choice voting, under which votes can transfer to a voter’s next-ranked candidate when a candidate is eliminated.
The complaint specifically addresses a scenario in which Sen. Sullivan loses the election but would have won if all votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan had instead been cast for the incumbent, with the ranked-choice process recalculated accordingly.
In that situation, the Justice Department asks the court to block certification pending an investigation into whether votes for Daniel J. Sullivan were intended for the incumbent and any further proceedings needed to determine what the result would have been without the second candidate on the ballot. The filing seeks to prevent certification of a potentially affected result, not to automatically declare Sen. Sullivan the winner.
