Twinsy Names on Alaska Senate Ballot May Cause Voter ‘Confusion,’ Violate Election Law, Blanche Contends

The Justice Department does not yet see a crime being committed by the state of Alaska for its decision to run two Senate candidates with nearly identical names, Attorney General Todd Blanche says, but the state should not certify any election result under its ranked-choice system until and unless voter intent is absolutely clear.The Justice Department filed a lawsuit on Friday over the confusion, though how it would seek redress is unclear. The sitting GOP senator, Dan S. Sullivan, could potentially lose his seat in the four-person race that also features an independent candidate and former teacher, Dan J. Sullivan Jr., as well as Democrat Mary Peltola and another Republican, Gerald Heikes. Dan S. Sullivan is listed on the ballot with his name and party affiliation, and the word “incumbent” listed next to it. But speaking to reporters at Andrews Air Force Base on Sunday, President Trump said Mr. Sullivan, the sitting lawmaker, should at least be allowed to have the word “senator” before his name. “At least let [Mr. Sullivan] use the name ‘Senator Dan Sullivan’ as opposed to ‘incumbent’ because a lot of people don’t know what ‘incumbent’ means,” the president said, calling the decision to run a second Sullivan as “just outright cheating,” During an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, Attorney General Todd Blanche said he did not yet see that the state of Alaska was committing a crime, though violations of federal law and the Constitution may occur if voters’ decision-making is impacted by the confusion around having two Dan Sullivans on their ballots. “There could be a crime,” Mr. Blanche said. “But the real wrong here is that Alaskans are going to be confused and will not have their vote heard. So, an Alaskan intends to vote for one candidate, but is confused because of a second candidate with exactly the same name who has voted Democrat his entire life, who donated money to the other Democrat opponent, is running.”Under Alaska’s electoral system, all candidates run in a single primary over the summer, with the top four moving on to a ranked-choice election in November. The Democratic candidate, Mary Peltola, placed first in the primary, with Mr. Sullivan — the senator — coming in second. The other Mr. Sullivan came in third with 2.5 percent of the vote. The fourth-place finisher dropped out of the race after the primary, meaning that fourth slot will be filled by Mr. Heikes, who placed fifth in the primary with one percent of the vote. According to an average of polls in the last month by RealClearPolling, Ms. Peltola is up by 1.2 points heading into next month’s election, with Dan. J. Sullivan, the challenger, drawing enough votes in both the first and second rank ballots to deny Mr. Sullivan an absolute margin of victory. The Justice Department’s lawsuit to block automatic certification of anything other than a Sullivan victory was quickly criticized by Alaska’s senior lawmaker in Congress, Senator Lisa Murkowski — who supported Ms. Peltola’s House campaigns in 2022 and 2024 but is backing Mr. Sullivan this year. Ms. Murkowski’s denunciation of the lawsuit led Mr. Trump to criticize the ranked-choice system, which he says allowed Ms. Murkowski to stay in office without the backing of the Alaska Republican Party. In a Truth Social post late Saturday, the president urged Alaskans to vote to repeal the state’s ranked-choice voting law, which conservatives say will make it much easier to unseat Ms. Murkowski in 2028, given she would have to compete in a closed GOP primary for the first time in more than a decade, if she runs. “They’ve been trying to get rid of Lisa Murkowski forever in Alaska, then she came up with the Ranked Choice Voting SCAM, and pulled a nice hot iron out of the fire. Everyone thought she came in second or third, but then she ‘won.’ Miracles happen!” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social late Saturday. The attorney general said that states have “an obligation” to “avoid confusion” in their elections. “The question is whether Alaska, by allowing this to happen, is violating the law and the federal law and the constitution by allowing confusion in the ballot.”The Justice Department lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Alaska, asks a judge to prepare to block the certification of a Peltola victory if there is reasonable belief that voters were confused by the presence of the non-senator Sullivan’s name on the ballot. The lawsuit states that the fact that two Dan Sullivans are on the ballot could lead to a “tainted” result. “[I]t is vital that Defendants not certify any election result that may be impacted by voter confusion. An election result may be impacted by voter confusion if: (1) Senator Sullivan does not win the election; and (2) had all votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan been cast instead for Senator Sullivan and Alaska’s rank-choice process played out accordingly, Senator Sullivan would have won the election,” the DOJ argues in its lawsuit. On Saturday, Mr. Trump told reporters in Florida that he was the one to tell the Justice Department to file the lawsuit, recounting his order to “do it.” Mr. Blanche declined to comment on Mr. Trump’s assertion, telling “Face the Nation” on Sunday that he will “never, ever, ever talk about communications that I have with the president of the United States.”“There are ways, because if the way that Alaska ballots are set up — where voters can vote for more than one candidate — there is a way, potentially … where it will be obvious from the results and from the ballots that voters were confused,” Mr. Blanche said. In a statement Saturday, Mr. Blanche pushed back on the idea that the lawsuit is a political move intended to try to deny Ms. Peltola a possible victory. “The Department of Justice does not seek to stop any ballot from being cast or to stop the certification of Alaska’s election,” Mr. Blanche said in a statement Saturday. “The lawsuit was written by Justice Department attorneys and the Department did not coordinate with any campaign or candidate, but rather relied solely on federal law.”Democrats need to pick up four seats in the upper chamber to take the majority. They are hoping to have the Justice Department lawsuit in Alaska tossed before the election, arguing that the federal government has no role in the tabulation of Alaska’s ballots. The Peltola campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit over the weekend. “Alaskans, apparently, must elect Senator Dan S. Sullivan or the President will not let them elect anyone at all. But the federal government has no power to impose that Hobson’s choice on the people of this State,” lawyers for Democrats said in their filing.

Twinsy Names on Alaska Senate Ballot May Cause Voter ‘Confusion,’ Violate Election Law, Blanche Contends

Twinsy Names on Alaska Senate Ballot May Cause Voter ‘Confusion,’ Violate Election Law, Blanche Contends

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