Justice Department seeks conditional block on Alaska Senate election certification

The Justice Department has sued over certification of Alaska’s November 3 U.S. Senate election, seeking a conditional block if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses and votes for another Republican candidate, Daniel J. Sullivan, could have changed the result. The lawsuit puts a potential dispute over voter intent before a federal court ahead of the election.

What the Justice Department wants the court to do

CBS News reported that the department wants certification blocked if the incumbent loses but would have won had votes for Daniel J. Sullivan been counted for him, pending an investigation into voter intent. The request concerns a possible future result; neither the election nor the proposed review of votes has taken place.

Alaska uses ranked-choice voting in the general election, allowing voters to rank candidates in order of preference. The ballot also includes Democratic nominee Mary Peltola and Republican Gerald Heikes. CBS News reported that Alaska courts had already allowed Daniel J. Sullivan to remain on the ballot before the federal lawsuit was brought.

Why the two Sullivan names matter to the legal claim

The Justice Department argues that certifying a result affected by the alleged confusion would breach election-integrity duties under the National Voter Registration Act. That is the government’s legal position, not a court ruling. The relief it seeks depends on both a loss by the incumbent and whether the other Sullivan’s votes would be enough to alter the outcome.

Daniel J. Sullivan won 2.5% of the vote in the August 28 primary, enough for a place on the four-candidate general-election ballot, CNBC reported. Peltola received 49.5%, Sen. Sullivan 41.1% and Heikes 1.1%. Those primary figures show how the candidates reached the ballot; they do not establish how voters will rank them in November.