Follow-Up: Alaska Urges Federal Judge to Dismiss Justice Department Suit, Calls Separating Same-Name Ballots 'Impossible'
Anchorage, Alaska — The State of Alaska filed new papers on October 31 asking a federal judge to dismiss the Justice Department's lawsuit seeking to halt certification of the Senate election, calling the department's newest requested relief 'both disturbing and impossible.'
The Justice Department sued on October 22, seeking to block or delay certification if Republican incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan loses. On October 30, the department added a request that ballots cast for another candidate with a similar name, retired teacher Daniel Sullivan, be separated and preserved.
The state replied that doing so would be impossible without violating voter privacy, and that there is no reason to entertain what it called a meritless lawsuit any longer. The Republican-led state defendants, including Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher, were represented by Rachel Witty, head of the state Department of Law's civil division.
On the ballot, the two Sullivans are already distinguished: the senator is listed as a Republican and the incumbent, while the other appears simply as 'Daniel J. Sullivan.' U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason set a noon deadline on October 31 for replies, leaving open a ruling before the November 3 election.
U.S. Attorney Michael Heyman, the Justice Department's top prosecutor in Alaska, also confirmed on October 30 that federal authorities are criminally investigating the recruitment of the same-name candidate.
Source: GSM America
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：雪中的阿拉斯加州议会大厦（Juneau）。来源：Wikimedia Commons（James Brooks，CC BY 2.0）
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- 2026-10-31Follow-Up: Alaska Urges Federal Judge to Dismiss Justice Department Suit, Calls Separating Same-Name Ballots 'Impossible'This story
