The fight over Alaska Senate ballots just moved into the courtroom. On Friday, the Justice Department asked U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason to order state election officials to separate every ballot that ranks Daniel J. Sullivan, NBC News reports. He is the retired teacher who shares a name with Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. Meanwhile, Alaska’s top federal prosecutor confirmed a criminal investigation is underway.
Election Day is Tuesday. So here is our take: saving evidence is cheap, but overturning voters on a hunch is not. DOJ can have the first. It has to earn the second.
Key Takeaways
- DOJ wants Alaska to preserve and segregate all ballots ranking Daniel J. Sullivan, and it wants a ruling by Monday.
- Other filings seek Peltola campaign and DSCC messages about recruiting him, plus a preliminary injunction.
- U.S. Attorney Michael Heyman confirmed an ongoing criminal probe and a surge of FBI resources.
- The state says separating those ballots would break ballot secrecy and still would not show any voter’s intent.
- Peltola and the DSCC deny any role in his candidacy.
- Gleason could rule on motions to dismiss the case before Election Day.
What DOJ Wants Done With Alaska Senate Ballots
Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward put the request plainly. State officials should “preserve and segregate all ballots ranking Daniel J. Sullivan for the purposes of investigating whether such ranking was the product of voter confusion, should such an investigation become necessary.” He added that these “modest precautionary measures will be impossible after Election Day.”
The request is part of a civil suit to block quick certification if Sen. Sullivan loses by a margin the other Sullivan could explain. In addition, Woodward and Heyman filed three more motions. Two seek fast access to internal and external conversations about recruiting Daniel J. Sullivan. One targets the Peltola campaign, and the other targets the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. The third asks for a preliminary injunction.
However, there is a gap. The filing did not spell out a process for reviewing ballots, NBC notes. Nor did it explain how a ballot could prove a voter was confused.
A Criminal Probe, Out in the Open
Heyman did not hide the stakes at an Anchorage press conference. “There is both a civil investigation and a criminal investigation that is ongoing,” he said, CNBC reports. “There is a surge of FBI resources and resources in this office.”
He stepped back into the case this week after earlier recusing himself while he was under consideration for a judgeship. Still, he would not name a statute, a target or a possible crime. Instead, he asked the public for tips.
That is rare. According to the Associated Press, DOJ almost never confirms a criminal probe, especially weeks before an election. The probe sped up after a New York Times report on Wednesday. That report said aides to Mary Peltola’s campaign and the DSCC helped recruit the retired teacher. By that evening, prosecutors had sent more than 40 grand jury subpoenas and record preservation notices, CNN reports. We covered that wave in our look at the Peltola campaign subpoenas.
The Other Side Has a Point on Alaska Senate Ballots
Peltola flatly denies it. “I knew nothing about any other candidates on the ballot except for me and the incumbent,” she said Thursday in Juneau. “I am not interested in tricking voters.” Likewise, the DSCC says it was “not involved with Dan J. Sullivan.”
The state’s lawyers also raise a fair, practical problem. On Election Day, ballots mix together in the box, AP reports. As a result, workers could not pull the Alaska Senate ballots ranking Daniel J. Sullivan without breaking ballot secrecy. Even then, a ballot cannot show why anyone marked it. The state also notes the ballot already lists the senator as Dan S. Sullivan, Republican and incumbent, and the challenger as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., with no party.
Courts have pushed back on this playbook before. The 9th Circuit already rejected a DOJ request to make California separate disputed ballots, AP reports. That fits the standard we set when DOJ took California voter rolls to a grand jury: bring proof.
Ranked-Choice Voting Made This Mess
Here is the part conservatives should not miss. Alaska’s ranked-choice system turned a name game into a strategy. With four candidates, second and third choices can decide the winner. In fact, Sen. Sullivan told Fox News’ Sean Hannity to rank the other Sullivan third. He called it a screwed-up system.
He is right. A system that asks voters to rank a decoy is a system begging to be gamed. Moreover, a state official told CNN that even well-informed voters have filled out Alaska Senate ballots wrong and asked for new ones.
The Bottom Line
Preserve the Alaska Senate ballots. It costs little, and it is far better than wishing for it in December. But protecting secret ballots matters just as much. If DOJ wants to block certification, it needs proof in court, not headlines. That is the line we drew when DOJ first sued over the race: Alaska runs Alaska’s elections. Then, once this race is settled, Alaska voters should scrap ranked-choice voting for good.
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