Alaska Ballot Confusion: Federal Judge Drops Suit Over Decoy Candidate

A federal judge in Alaska dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Justice Department on Sunday. The suit had sought to block the certification of the state’s U.S. Senate race if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses to Democratic opponent Mary Peltola.

The case was filed less than two weeks before Tuesday’s election. It targeted a retired teacher listed on the ballot as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. The Justice Department argued that an investigation was needed to determine if votes for the teacher were intended for the senator. The state of Alaska argued the case lacked merit and that determining voter intent would violate privacy rights.

U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason wrote that the relief the United States sought was infeasible because many voters had already cast their ballots. She noted that the ballots had been commingled to the point where the identity of the person who cast each one could not be determined. Gleason stated that the United States provided no workable plan to segregate those ballots while preserving voter secrecy.

The dispute centers on suspicions that Peltola’s campaign recruited the second Sullivan to confuse voters. A New York Times report last week cited interviews and text messages suggesting a Peltola-backed group paid an operative to recruit the decoy candidate. Sullivan told CNN’s State of the Union that he doubted Peltola’s claim that her top aides were involved. He said, She got caught lying, and she’s still lying to the Alaskan people, the media, to all of us.

Peltola has insisted she had nothing to do with recruiting the other candidate. She called the attention on the issue a distraction from high prices caused by the war in Iran. Before a rally on Friday, she told KTUU, I have no idea. I honestly have no idea. The second Sullivan, who has run on his own accord, has long insisted he acted independently.

President Donald Trump ordered the Justice Department to file the lawsuit and called for Peltola to be prosecuted after the news report. Federal agents issued subpoenas in the case. The Republican governor of Alaska has ordered his own investigation and suggested he may not certify a Peltola victory. Sen. Tim Scott said on NBC’s Meet the Press that criminal charges might make sense because it is criminal for candidates to work in collusion to confuse voters.

Sen. Bernie Sanders agreed with the sentiment that the strategy was unusual but not illegal. He told CBS’ Face the Nation, What the Democrats did in Alaska seems to me to be pretty dumb. It’s not illegal. It’s what happens in every election. Sullivan said he would let lawyers determine whether crimes were committed but expected to lose votes to the trickery. He said he would accept the results of the election.