Alaska elections hearing reveals FBI contact, no precedent for 'good faith' test

The Alaska Division of Elections said Wednesday it has no records showing it ever applied a good-faith candidacy standard to any candidate other than Petersburg's Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., and has still not explained why the FBI contacted it during its review of his case.

The Alaska Supreme Court ruled Sullivan Jr. onto the August primary ballot on June 29. A superior court had vacated the Division's decision on June 26, finding the good-faith criterion was "previously unidentified" and "not based upon the constitutional requirements" or any Alaska statute or regulation. The Supreme Court affirmed that ruling.

What the Division Disclosed

Elections Director Carol Beecher made the disclosures in a July 20 letter to the chairs of the Alaska State House Judiciary and State Affairs committees, released as the two panels held a joint hearing Wednesday in Anchorage. The letter was the Division's formal response to subpoenas issued in June.

The Division produced records spanning SOA00001 through SOA01393, including emails from five officials between May 29 and June 15, and said it had two communications with Sen. Dan Sullivan or his campaign. The Division also noted it could not reveal deliberative, executive, or attorney-client privileged communications or disclose legal strategy or analysis.

When asked about other candidates subjected to the same standard, the Division said it has no responsive records beyond documents specific to Sullivan's case. It also provided complaints and responses since 2020, noting that identifying older complaints would require searching the Division's archives.

Beecher defended the approach. "The Division's good faith candidacy analysis was not an additional qualification for office, but a procedural safeguard to— for ballot integrity similar to the signature requirements, filing deadlines, anti-confusion measures that have been upheld in the courts," she said in the letter.

The letter states the Division "received inquiries from the Federal Bureau of Investigation" but does not explain the nature of that contact.

Lawmakers' Concerns

Rep. Andrew Gray said the core issue is whether election administrators are applying the same rules in every case. Rep. Ashley Carrick warned that the factors weighed, including campaign color schemes and website design, are subjective. She said she remained "worried about precedent setting for the potential for DOE to be making subjective instead of objective decisions about Alaska's elections and candidates."

Absentee ballots for the August 18 primary have been printed and mailed with Sullivan Jr. included. Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom did not appear at the hearing. The committees learned by email she would not attend.