In a highly unusual move, the Trump administration asked a federal court on Friday to block certification of the coming Senate election in Alaska if the Republican incumbent loses.
The Justice Department, in a court filing, argued that confusion over another candidate on the ballot with a name very similar to the incumbent, Senator Dan S. Sullivan, could taint the election result. Mr. Sullivan is in what polls suggest is a tight race against Mary Peltola, a Democrat, but the ballot also features Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.
A number of tight races across the country, including Alaska, could tip the balance of power in the Senate.
David Becker of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, a nonpartisan group that advises election officials, said he could not recall a similar instance in which the federal government sought to block certification of an election, “and certainly not 11 days before an election.” The issue of another candidate with a similar name has already been addressed by state officials, he said.
“D.O.J. making this claim this late smells of political interference and is against D.O.J. policy,” Mr. Becker said. “The feds have absolutely no authority to tell Alaska when and how to certify. The state officials are following Alaska state law, as the Constitution requires.” He said he expected the courts to reject the administration’s lawsuit.
The lawsuit, signed by a senior Justice Department official, Stanley Woodward, argues “there is a realistic chance that, even if a majority of Alaskans wish to vote for Senator Sullivan, Daniel J. Sullivan’s presence on the ballot will result in a victory for Peltola.”
To guard against voter confusion, the suit argues, Alaska should “not certify any election result that may be impacted by voter confusion.” The possibility of such confusion exists, the suit continued, if “(1) Senator Sullivan does not win the election; and (2) had all votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan been cast instead for Senator Sullivan and Alaska’s rank-choice process played out accordingly, Senator Sullivan would have won the election.”
The Justice Department lawsuit argues that if the incumbent Republican loses and it appears he might have won but for the other Mr. Sullivan on the ballot, then the vote should not be certified until “an investigation to determine whether votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan were meant to be cast for Senator Sullivan and any further procedures or relief this court deems necessary and appropriate.” It is unclear how such an investigation would work, since ballots are cast anonymously.
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