The Trump administration has filed a preemptive lawsuit seeking to block certification of Alaska’s Senate election results if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses, arguing that confusion between candidates with nearly identical names could have affected the outcome.
Republicans allege that Dan J. Sullivan’s campaign is a sham operation designed to confuse voters and divert support from the incumbent, Dan S. Sullivan, whose names are strikingly similar.
Alaska’s Supreme Court previously rejected a legal effort to remove Dan J. Sullivan from the race, ordering that he remain on the ballot.
“Should Alaska certify any electoral results tainted by the inclusion on the ballot of Daniel J. Sullivan … the State and its officers will fail in its obligation to protect the integrity of its election,” Stanley Woodward, the Justice Department’s third-ranking official, wrote in Thursday’s filing.
The Justice Department says it is acting to address the possibility that Sen. Dan S. Sullivan could lose in an election he otherwise would have won if voters had not mistakenly supported Dan J. Sullivan. The incumbent is competing against Democrat Mary Peltola and Dan J. Sullivan, who is listed on the ballot without a party affiliation.
“To guard against this danger, it is vital that Defendants not certify any election result that may be impacted by voter confusion,” Woodward wrote. He said that could apply if Sen. Sullivan loses and would have prevailed under Alaska’s ranked-choice system had every vote cast for Daniel J. Sullivan instead gone to the incumbent.
A Justice Department spokesperson said Alaska’s Division of Elections had determined that Daniel J. Sullivan’s candidacy was intended to mislead voters and undermine the fairness of the ballot. The spokesperson said the department was acting under the National Voter Registration Act to prevent what it called a “frivolous candidacy” from affecting the election’s integrity or the voters’ will.
The Alaska Secretary of State’s office did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment. Representatives for Peltola, Sen. Sullivan and Dan J. Sullivan also did not immediately reply.
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On Wednesday, President Donald Trump said on social media that he was exploring “powerful legal options” to remove Dan J. Sullivan from the ballot.
Earlier in the summer, Alaska’s elections office announced that Dan J. Sullivan would be removed after concluding that his candidacy was not being pursued in good faith. An official said the campaign appeared intended “to confuse or mislead and to thereby compromise the ballot’s fairness or neutrality.”
Dan J. Sullivan sued over the decision, and a state judge ruled that he was eligible to appear on Alaska’s Senate primary ballot. The Alaska Supreme Court upheld that ruling, prompting the Justice Department to begin an investigation.
Hours before the lawsuit was filed, Attorney General Todd Blanche was asked whether the Justice Department might intervene in a state election. He did not rule out the possibility but said such action would require a “doomsday scenario.”
“I mean, is there any scenario? Yes, of course. There’s scenarios that we could all come up with hypothetically, you know, some doomsday scenario, for example, right?” Blanche said. “It is not DOJ’s intention to, and it’s never our intention to improperly interfere with elections or the state confirmation process or certification process.”
ABC News’ Devin Dwyer contributed to this report.
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