The federal judge Sharon Gleason has rejected this Sunday the request submitted by the Government of the United States to invalidate the legislative elections to the Senate in Alaska in the event that the Republican Dan Sullivan turns out to be defeated, alleging that one of his independent rivals has a virtually identical name.
Gleason maintains that the Department of Justice has not explained in what way its objections could be resolved, given that the ballots are already printed and the elections are being held this same Tuesday.
"Of even greater weight, the United States has no functional plan to separate the votes for Daniel J. Sullivan and then carry out a supposed judicial investigation of those votes without violating the secrecy of the vote," the magistrate stated in her ruling.
The Alaska Supreme Court decided in June to authorize the independent candidate, who also appears on the ballot as Daniel Sullivan Jr., to continue in the electoral contest. The Republican senator and current holder of the seat faces the Democrat Mary Peltola in a state in which Trump prevailed in the presidential elections of 2024 by 13 percentage points.
The federal Executive argued that the presence of two candidates called Dan Sullivan could mislead part of the electorate and even defended that it is a "deliberate attempt". However, the Alaska state government itself had also asked Gleason to reject the request made by Washington.