Judge rejects federal bid to pause Alaska Senate vote certification

U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason dismissed a federal lawsuit on Sunday that sought to halt the certification of Alaska’s Senate election results. The Trump administration filed the suit to prevent state officials from finalizing the vote count if the Republican incumbent loses the race. The legal action relied on the preamble of the National Voter Registration Act to argue that the federal government had the authority to intervene in the state process.

The core of the federal complaint centered on a potential for voter confusion. Two candidates on the ranked-choice ballot share the surname Sullivan. One is the incumbent, Senator Dan Sullivan, a Republican. The other is Daniel Sullivan Jr., an unaffiliated challenger. The Justice Department asked the court to stop the certification process to allow for a deeper investigation into whether the similar names misled voters during the general election.

Judge Gleason, a nominee of former President Barack Obama, determined that the federal government did not have the legal capacity to bring this specific type of lawsuit. She noted that the government failed to explain how its requested relief would fix the alleged injury while still protecting the secrecy of the ballot. The ruling emphasized that a court order pausing certification would likely violate Alaskan voters’ constitutional right to a secret ballot.

“The absence of any explanation from the United States as to how its requested relief could redress its alleged injury while simultaneously maintaining the secrecy of the ballot is telling,” Gleason wrote in the decision.

The Justice Department announced it intends to appeal the ruling. Kiersten Pels, a department spokesperson, stated that Alaskan voters deserve a fair election and should not be misled in an attempt to rig outcomes. Voting rights organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union’s Voting Rights Project, praised the decision. Sophia Lin Lakin, the project’s director, described the lawsuit as a lawless attempt to silence hundreds of thousands of voters before a single ballot was counted.

President Trump said he ordered the lawsuit to be filed because of the naming issue between the two candidates. This controversy follows an earlier state-level legal battle. In June, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that Daniel Sullivan Jr. had the right to remain on the ballot after the Alaska Republican Party tried to remove him. Republicans have long alleged that Democrats supported Sullivan Jr. to spoil the incumbent’s chances, a claim that gained new attention after a New York Times report on Democratic campaign efforts.

Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy has ordered an investigation into the race and indicated that state certification may be delayed depending on the findings. “If we find out there's wrongdoing, and if that means that the certification then is stopped or changed, then that's what happens,” Dunleavy said during an October 30 interview. U.S. Attorney Michael Heyman confirmed an ongoing criminal probe by the Justice Department at an October 30 press conference in Anchorage.

Former Representative Mary Peltola, the Democratic candidate, has denied any involvement in the situation. Incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday that he would accept the election results regardless of the outcome. Over 86,700 Alaskans have cast early ballots, and voting continues through Tuesday, November 3.