US Justice Department sues to block certification of Alaska's Senate result unless Senator Dan Sullivan wins, citing a second candidate with the same name

The US Justice Department filed a lawsuit in federal court on Friday 23 October against Alaska and its election division, seeking to block certification of the state’s US Senate result unless Republican Senator Dan Sullivan wins, The Guardian and NBC News reported.

The department argues that the presence on the ballot of a second Republican candidate, Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired schoolteacher, could mislead the senator’s supporters. The complaint says “the sole purpose” of his candidacy is to “benefit the Peltola campaign by reducing the number of votes for Senator Sullivan”, and asks for certification to be paused “pending an investigation” into whether votes cast for him were meant for the incumbent, The Guardian reported. The incumbent faces Democrat Mary Peltola in the 3 November election.

The incumbent will appear on the ballot with the words “(Registered Republican) Incumbent” next to his name. In June, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that Daniel J. Sullivan could stay on the ballot. President Donald Trump has called the second candidate an “impostor”; The Guardian said he has offered no evidence for that claim. Voting rights experts told The Guardian that the basis for the lawsuit is thin, because investigating voters’ intentions after they have voted would be practically impossible.

Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Thursday there were hypothetical “scenarios” in which the department could block the certification of votes, The Hill reported. Alaska uses ranked-choice voting.