Peltola and voter groups move to fight DOJ's suit to block Alaska certification

Mary Peltola's campaign, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and two voter groups asked a federal judge in Anchorage on Friday to let them help defend against a Justice Department lawsuit that seeks to block certification of Alaska's U.S. Senate race.

Attorney General Todd Blanche said Saturday the department isn't trying to stop certification. "The Department of Justice does not seek to stop any ballot from being cast or to stop the certification of Alaska's election," he wrote on X.

The department's complaint, filed Thursday, asks U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason to bar the state from certifying the result if two things happen: Sen. Dan Sullivan loses, and he would have won had every vote for the other Sullivan on the ballot, Daniel J. Sullivan, gone to him through the ranked-choice count.

It also asks Gleason to declare that certifying such a result would violate the state's duties under the National Voter Registration Act, the basis for its only claim. In that case, the complaint says, "it is vital that Defendants not certify" the result.

The department argues that Daniel J. Sullivan's presence on the ballot "threatens to mislead" Alaskans who want to vote for the senator, and that some of the senator's supporters "likely will inadvertently vote" for Daniel J. Sullivan. Daniel J. Sullivan, of Petersburg, has said he decided to run on his own.

Blanche wrote that the litigation instead seeks to ensure ballots are preserved after they're cast, so that only Alaska's governing officials have the information to determine whether voters were confused or misled.

The complaint doesn't mention preserving ballots. It asks the court to block certification "pending an investigation to determine whether votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan were meant to be cast for Senator Sullivan," and for any further procedures or relief the court deems necessary to determine what the result would have been without him on the ballot.

The complaint doesn't say how that investigation would determine what voters meant, or who would conduct it.

Blanche also wrote that the lawsuit was written by Justice Department attorneys, relied solely on federal law and was not coordinated with any campaign or candidate. President Donald Trump has said he directed the department to sue, Alaska News reported Oct. 23.

Alaskans for Mary, Peltola's campaign committee, and the DSCC called the suit an "unprecedented pre-emptive strike on democratic elections" in their joint motion to intervene as defendants. They argue the voter registration law "has literally nothing to say about which candidates are listed on the ballot or how they are displayed," which they say is a matter of state law. They say they'll move to dismiss if they're allowed in.

Pointing to Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher's overturned attempt to disqualify Daniel J. Sullivan, they wrote that they "have reason to fear that Defendant Beecher may not vigorously oppose DOJ's requested relief."

The League of Women Voters of Alaska, Common Cause and two Fairbanks voters, Risé Roy and Jan Jakub Grzeda, filed separately, represented by the ACLU of Alaska Foundation and the national ACLU Foundation. Their proposed motion to dismiss calls the case a "frivolous, election-eve lawsuit."

Roy said in a sworn statement that she has already voted and that "it was clear to me on the face of the ballot" which Sullivan was the incumbent. Grzeda said he doesn't understand how an investigation into voters' intent "would even be possible without violating the secret ballot."

Thomas A. Lamb of Wasilla, representing himself, asked to file a friend-of-the-court brief opposing the suit. Lamb, who filed a brief supporting Daniel J. Sullivan in the state ballot case, argues that the claim "rests entirely on events that have not occurred" and that "the only way to learn what a voter 'meant' would be to identify the voter and ask, which the secret ballot forbids."

No one has ruled on the requests. As of the last docket filing Friday, the state had filed nothing, and the Justice Department had not responded to the motions.

The complaint leans on the state's own finding against Daniel J. Sullivan. In a June 15 letter, issued after complaints filed on behalf of Alaska Republican Party Chairman Carmela Warfield, Beecher wrote that he had filed "with a purpose to confuse or mislead." One of her reasons was that he asked to appear on the ballot as "Dan Sullivan," a name she said he had never registered or run under.

An Alaska Superior Court judge ordered him onto the ballot June 26, and the Alaska Supreme Court affirmed June 29.

The ballot lists the two men differently. The senator appears as a registered Republican and the incumbent, and Daniel J. Sullivan appears without a party designation. Voters can rank both.

Early voting began Monday. Election Day is Nov. 3, and the state's target date to certify the results is Nov. 25.