Justice Department sues to block certification of Alaska Senate election results

The United States Department of Justice filed a lawsuit on Friday to block the certification of Alaska's Senate race results if Republican incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan loses the November election. The Washington Examiner, CNN, and AP News reported that the federal government filed the suit to prevent a potential Democratic victory if voter confusion impacts the outcome. President Donald Trump claimed responsibility for the lawsuit, saying he ordered the action, according to CNBC. [1][4][5][6][8]

The legal action centers on the presence of two candidates named Dan Sullivan on the state ranked-choice ballot. The Washington Examiner reported that incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola are the primary contenders in the race. The second candidate, an independent named Dan Sullivan, received 2.5 percent of the total vote during the primary elections. Republicans expressed concern that the identical names on the ballot could confuse voters and split the Republican vote, according to the Washington Examiner and CNBC. [1][5]

As FTMQ News reported earlier, Donald Trump previously claimed the independent candidate was a Democratic hoax and noted that authorities were looking into his candidacy. Subsequent financial disclosures revealed that progressive donors funded a super PAC backing the second candidate, Dan J. Sullivan, who is a retired teacher and has voted against Donald Trump in three presidential elections. [12][13]

The preemptive lawsuit comes one month after the president instructed the attorney general to pursue the legal matter, according to MSNBC. The lawsuit specifically seeks to block state officials from certifying the final election winner if the Republican incumbent loses or narrowly falls short in November, as reported by The Washington Post and NBC News. [2][7][9]