Alaska’s Republican-led state government on Saturday asked a federal judge to permanently dismiss a Trump administration lawsuit that seeks to block certification of the Alaska Senate race, three days before Election Day. The state’s attorney general’s office asked the judge to "immediately dismiss this lawsuit with prejudice" so state officials can conduct the general election, including counting and certification, according to PBS NewsHour headlines.
The Trump administration filed its lawsuit on Oct. 22 against local election officials, according to NBC News. It argues that the Senate race results should not be certified unless Sen. Dan S. Sullivan is declared the winner.
The administration argues that a second candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired teacher in Petersburg, was recruited to create voter confusion. It amended its complaint to cite a New York Times report, according to PBS NewsHour headlines.
As cited by NBC News, the Times report alleged that Peltola’s campaign was involved in recruiting Dan J. Sullivan and that Peltola herself was aware of it. The report cites a former campaign manager who later tried to retract her statements. Peltola has denied involvement in putting the second Sullivan on the ballot, according to AP.
The Alaska Supreme Court ruled this summer that the second candidate met all legal requirements to stay on the ballot, according to the state filing as reported by AP.
The Justice Department has proposed segregating all ballots showing votes for the second Dan Sullivan until it can be determined whether voters were fooled, according to NBC News and PBS NewsHour headlines. Alaska officials called the idea "both disturbing and impossible." They said it would violate voter privacy and that the ballots can easily be identified.
The Justice Department has also issued subpoenas and said it is running a criminal investigation in the case, AP reports. Alaska’s Republican governor, Mike Dunleavy, announced a state probe after the Times story and has condemned the second Sullivan’s ballot placement, per AP. Peltola’s campaign and voting rights groups also urged dismissal, according to AP.
U.S. District Court Judge Sharon L. Gleason set a Saturday deadline for arguments on whether to dismiss the lawsuit without a hearing, according to PBS NewsHour headlines. No ruling has been issued yet, and sources say a decision is expected soon. No response from the Justice Department to Alaska’s Saturday filing appears in the sources.
The New York Times report itself was not available, so its claims are known only through summaries by NBC News and AP, and only two distinct outlets are represented in the sources. Peltola’s response to Sen. Sullivan’s Fox News claim that she "doesn’t know" about the scheme is not in the sources, and the status of Dunleavy’s probe is not described beyond its announcement.
Judge Gleason is expected to rule soon on whether to dismiss the lawsuit or let it continue, with the election three days away.
Sources
This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.