The Department of Justice of the United States has filed a motion to invalidate the legislative elections for the Senate in Alaska if the Republican candidate Dan Sullivan ends up losing the elections, considering that one of his independent opponents has a name that is excessively similar.
The Alaska Supreme Court decided in June to allow the independent candidate, who also appears on the ballot as "Daniel Sullivan Jr.", to continue in the electoral race. The Republican senator and current holder of the seat is facing Democrat Mary Peltola in a state where Trump won the presidential election of 2024 by a 13-point margin.
The motion, which has been accessed by the Politico portal, argues that the appearance of two "Dan Sullivan" on the ballot may create confusion among voters. Furthermore, the Department of Justice argues that it could be a "deliberate attempt," in line with the rhetoric of the Trump Administration, which has been warning for weeks about possible electoral fraud without providing evidence.
"Given the considerable likelihood that the inclusion of Daniel J. Sullivan will confuse or mislead voters who wish to cast their vote for Senator Sullivan -thus distorting the will of the voters of Alaska-, there is a considerable likelihood that the certification of the election will reflect an electoral process lacking integrity," states the Department of Justice in its filing.
A week ago, Trump precisely addressed this issue at a rally, where he claimed that the electoral system in Alaska is designed "to make damn cheats" and that if the independent candidate "manages to scrape 2% or 3% of the votes, you never know what is going to happen."