A federal judge has dismissed the Trump administration’s attempt to block Alaska from certifying the results of its closely watched U.S. Senate election if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses. District Judge Sharon Gleason ruled Sunday that the federal government could not bring the lawsuit under the National Voter Registration Act, finding that the statute did not provide a cause of action for its claim.
The Justice Department had sought to prevent certification while authorities investigated whether voters could be confused by two similarly named candidates on the state’s ranked-choice ballot. The ballot identifies the incumbent as “Dan S. Sullivan (Registered Republican) Incumbent,” while another candidate appears as “Daniel J.
Sullivan Jr.” without a party designation. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher from Petersburg, changed his voter registration from Republican to undeclared before the general election. Gleason also concluded that the government had failed to explain how its proposed remedy would address its alleged injury without threatening Alaskans’ right to cast a secret ballot.
Newsweek reached out to the White House and the Justice Department for comment on Sunday. The Justice Department plans to appeal the dismissal, spokesperson Kiersten Pels told NPR. President Donald Trump has said he ordered the lawsuit over concerns about the two similarly named candidates appearing on the ballot in Tuesday’s election.
The race also includes Democratic former Representative Mary Peltola and Republican Gerald Heikes. Trump escalated his attacks on Sullivan Jr. on Sunday, writing on Truth Social that the “Fake Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr., has DISAPPEARED” and claiming that “Nobody can find him, including Law Enforcement.” Trump accused Sullivan Jr. of committing a “Criminal Act” but did not provide evidence for the claims.
The federal government had asked Gleason to order Alaska election officials to preserve and segregate ballots ranking Sullivan Jr. so authorities could investigate whether voters mistakenly selected him instead of the incumbent. Alaska’s Republican-led government urged the court to dismiss the case, calling the Justice Department’s position “meritless.” State attorneys argued that segregating ballots would be practically difficult and potentially incompatible with voter-privacy protections because ballots could show how voters ranked the candidates but not why they selected Sullivan Jr. The state also argued that Alaska’s ranked-choice system allows voters to rank both men.
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