DOJ sues to block Alaska Senate certification if Sullivan loses

Alaska's U.S. Senate election is now the subject of a federal lawsuit from the Department of Justice that could leave the race uncertified past Nov. 3, according to CNBC. The suit, filed this week less than two weeks before the election, asks a judge to block certification if Republican incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan loses to Democratic nominee Mary Peltola.

The DOJ argues a second candidate on the ballot, Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired teacher running as an independent with a nearly identical name to the senator, could confuse voters enough to tip the outcome to Peltola. Republicans have called the independent candidate a spoiler, and the lawsuit asks the judge to bar certification of any result that could have been shaped by that confusion, CNBC reported.

President Trump told reporters he personally directed the Justice Department to file the case, according to CNBC and PBS NewsHour.

For Alaskans, the stakes are immediate. The race is rated a toss-up by the Cook Political Report, one of seven such Senate races nationally, with control of the chamber potentially on the line. If the lawsuit succeeds, the state could be left without a declared senator past the normal timeline, a scenario with no modern precedent in Alaska.

Peltola's campaign, Alaskans for Mary, and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee moved overnight to intervene, calling the DOJ's attempt to preempt state certification an "extraordinary assault" on democracy that is "insulting" to Alaska voters, according to Democracy Docket. The groups say they have "a unique interest in standing up for the rights of Alaska voters" against what they call a preemptive attempt to invalidate the election.

The case was filed in federal court in Alaska, PBS NewsHour reported. The docket number, the presiding judge and the DOJ's full legal theory were not detailed in available reporting, and it is unclear when a judge might rule or how any order would interact with Alaska's certification deadlines.

The lawsuit does not change how or when Alaskans vote on Nov. 3, and it does not affect any other race on the ballot. It targets only the certification step that follows the count, the point at which Alaska's Division of Elections and state officials confirm a winner.

An Oct. 15 debate between Sullivan and Peltola drew crowds of supporters from both campaigns outside the venue in Anchorage. Both sides are expected to file further briefs in the coming days. Peltola's campaign and the DSCC have asked to be formally added as parties, and whether a judge rules before Nov. 3 remains to be seen.