U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason dismissed a Trump administration lawsuit seeking to block certification of Alaska's 2026 Senate election results. The Department of Justice had asked Gleason to prevent election officials from certifying results while the government investigated whether voters mistakenly selected the wrong candidate on ranked-choice ballots.
Two candidates shared nearly identical names. Republican incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan faced Democrat Mary Peltola and unaffiliated candidate Daniel J. Sullivan. The DOJ argued that if the incumbent lost narrowly, it may have resulted from voter confusion caused by Daniel J. Sullivan running "with the intention of misleading supporters of Senator Sullivan into voting for him."
In her ruling released Sunday, Gleason found the government failed to explain how an investigation could proceed without violating ballot secrecy. "The absence of any explanation from the United States as to how its requested relief could redress its alleged injury while simultaneously maintaining the secrecy of the ballot is telling," Gleason wrote.
The judge noted that many voters had already cast ballots that were "commingled and cannot now be segregated or the identity of the person who cast each ballot ascertained." She added, "The United States provides no workable plan as to how it proposes to segregate ballots cast for Daniel J. Sullivan on Election Day and then conduct a court-ordered unspecified 'investigation' of those ballots in a manner that would preserve voter secrecy."
The DOJ relied on the preamble of the National Voter Registration Act in bringing the case. Democratic groups including Mary Peltola's campaign committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee moved to intervene and sought dismissal. The government opposed their intervention and amended its complaint, arguing that Democrats themselves recruited Daniel J. Sullivan. The DOJ's attorneys are expected to appeal.