Federal Judge Tosses Justice Department Lawsuit Aimed at Potentially Blocking a Peltola Win in Alaska Senate Race

A federal judge in Alaska has thrown out a lawsuit from the Trump administration seeking to possibly delay or block the certification of a Democratic win in Alaska’s U.S. Senate race. The lawsuit was filed as Republicans worry that the presence of a man named Dan J. Sullivan on the ballot is intended to confuse voters wanting to vote for the incumbent — Senator Dan S. Sullivan. The Democratic candidate, Mary Peltola, has a slight polling edge over Mr. Sullivan, who has represented Alaska in the Senate for nearly 12 years. Many forecasters are now rating the race as either a “toss up” or a “lean” Democratic contest. The campaign was rocked last week by allegations that Ms. Peltola’s team worked with Democratic operatives to get the second “Dan Sullivan” on the ballot, a claim that she has denied. According to a New York Times report, Ms. Peltola’s top aides worked with operatives last year to “find as many people named Dan Sullivan in Alaska as you can” so they could zero in on one who would be willing to jump into the race. Eventually, they found a retired teacher, Dan J. Sullivan, who put his name forth. He placed third in the state’s blanket primary, meaning that he, the incumbent senator, Ms. Peltola, and a little-known conservative candidate will all be on the ranked-choice November ballot. If Alaska voters intend to vote for the senator but instead rank the non-senator due to confusion, the incumbent would be harmed, the Justice Department argued. In its lawsuit, the the Justice Department asked the court to delay the certification of any electoral result other than a victory by the incumbent senator “pending an investigation to determine whether votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan were meant to be cast for Senator Sullivan.” On Sunday, Judge Sharon Gleason threw out the lawsuit less than 48 hours before Election Day, ruling that neither the court nor the Justice Department has any mechanism to determine whether or not pro-Sullivan voters would be confused after ballots are cast. Judge Gleason wrote in her opinion that the Justice Department offered no concrete plan on how such an investigation would take place without violating “Alaskans’ right to a secret ballot.”She wrote that the federal government “provides no explanation of how its request for ballot segregation and a court-ordered investigation by law enforcement officers into certain voters’ intent could be implemented while preserving the secrecy of the ballot,” and therefore lacked standing to sue. Judge Gleason also concluded that it would be impossible to segregate the Sullivan ballots from others because mail voting has already begun, and those ballots have been “commingled.”The Justice Department’s lawsuit was filed before the Times’ report on the alleged scheme, of which Ms. Peltola said she has no knowledge, but whose former campaign manager said was, while not directly involved, “definitely aware.” Now, Ms. Peltola and others are facing investigations led by the Department of Justice, Congress, and state officials. Alaska’s Republican attorney general had opposed the federal lawsuit, saying it was the state’s responsibility to determine whether the pursuit of a “Decoy Dan,” as Republicans call Dan J. Sullivan is illegal. Governor Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, said during an on-air interview with News Nation last week that his administration may not certify Ms. Peltola’s victory if she wins. Alaska’s elections are overseen by Mr. Dunleavy’s lieutenant governor, Nancy Dahlstrom. He said that Alaska is “going to ensure that we aren’t going to send a scam to Washington.”“We’re going to investigate it. We’re going to follow the law,” he said. Senator Ron Johnson, a Republican who leads an investigative subcommittee for government affairs issues, has sent letters to some of Ms. Peltola’s campaign staff and other Democratic operatives demanding that they preserve records related to the ballot stacking operation. Mr. Johnson is asking that any and all communications related to the matter be turned over to him by mid-November. “Do not destroy your records. Do not obstruct justice,” Mr. Johnson of Wisconsin warned on “Fox News Sunday.”Asked whether the Senate could step in and not certify the election results, a move reminiscent of the outcome sought by January 6, 2021, protesters, both Mr. Johnson and Senator Tim Scott said “collusion” by Ms. Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to confuse voters may in fact be illegal, but they will wait to see what voters decide on Tuesday.“Number one, Dan Sullivan, the real Dan S. Sullivan, will win. And number two, it actually is a federal offense to confuse voters. That’s the law,” Mr. Scott of South Carolina told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “We know that it is criminal for candidates to work in collusion with other parties to confuse voters. And that’s exactly what Decoy Dan has done in Alaska.”

Federal Judge Tosses Justice Department Lawsuit Aimed at Potentially Blocking a Peltola Win in Alaska Senate Race

Federal Judge Tosses Justice Department Lawsuit Aimed at Potentially Blocking a Peltola Win in Alaska Senate Race

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