DOJ sues to block Alaska Senate certification if Sullivan loses

The Trump administration is suing to prevent the Alaska Senate election from being certified if GOP Sen. Daniel Sullivan loses to Democrat Mary Peltola because of the other Dan Sullivan who is on the ballot. The Trump administration is suing to prevent the Alaska Senate election from being certified if Republican Sen. Daniel Sullivan loses to Democrat Mary Peltola because of the other Dan Sullivan who is on the ballot. Alaskans will choose their senator in a ranked-choice contest with four candidates on the ballot: Sen. Dan Sullivan, Peltola, Gerald Heikes, and a teacher named Daniel J. Sullivan. The Justice Department argues that if Sen. Sullivan were to lose because of votes unintentionally cast for the Daniel J.

Sullivan instead of the senator, the election should not be considered valid. The government alleges that candidate Daniel J. Sullivan deliberately sought to confuse voters by running with the same ballot name and party affiliation as the incumbent senator. It argues that he is potentially diverting votes and Peltola stands to benefit. In its court filing Friday, the Justice Department argued that allowing Daniel J. Sullivan to be on the ballot "threatens to mislead Alaskan citizens who want to vote for Senator Sullivan" and said that some of his supporters "likely will inadvertently vote for Daniel J. Sullivan." Further, the senator's other