Trump admin sues Alaska election official, arguing 'voter confusion' with two Sullivans on ballot

The Trump administration Thursday filed a lawsuit against Alaska and the state's elections officials, arguing that "voter confusion" stemming from the ballot having candidates with the same name could cost the incumbent, Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, his seat to Democrat Mary Peltola. 

Sen. Sullivan is running against Peltola and Dan J. Sullivan, and the lawsuit argues that Dan J. Sullivan's campaign is intended to mislead supporters of Sen. Sullivan into voting for the wrong person. 

“The sole purpose of [Dan J. Sullivan’s] candidacy is to benefit the Peltola campaign by reducing the number of votes for Senator Sullivan,” the federal government argues in the lawsuit. 

Alaska uses a ranked choice voting system in its general election, and the two Sullivans are differentiated on ballot by their middle initial and Sen. Sullivan is marked as "(Registered Republican Incumbent," Courthouse News Service reported. 

Federal attorneys in the lawsuit say that "voter confusion" could occur if Sen. Sullivan lost the election to Peltola, but would have won if all the votes for Dan J. Sullivan, resulting from this confusion, went to the incumbent instead. 

The case could potentially hold up the certification of the vote. The Trump administration argues that such a hypothetical outcome as the attorneys describe would violate the National Voter Registration Act. 

They are asking U.S. District Judge Sharon L. Gleason to prevent defendants from “certifying any result that may be impacted by voter confusion … pending an investigation to determine whether votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan were meant to be cast for Senator Sullivan.”