The US Justice Department has defended its lawsuit to block certification of Alaska’s Senate election result if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses, insisting the case concerns alleged voter confusion rather than an attempt by Donald Trump to overturn the vote.
Attorney General Todd Blanche said the department could intervene if Alaska’s election process breached federal law, after previously describing such action as a “doomsday” scenario.
Speaking to CNN, Mr Blanche rejected suggestions that the lawsuit was laying the groundwork for the president to challenge an unfavourable result in next week’s midterm elections.
“We’re not laying any groundwork for the president to do that,” he told presenter Dana Bash. “President Trump is not trying to take over a state election in any way, shape, or form.”
Justice Department cites two candidates with similar names
The lawsuit centres on another candidate on the November 3 ballot, a retired schoolteacher from Petersburg named Daniel J. Sullivan. His name closely resembles that of the sitting senator, Dan Sullivan.
Republicans have accused Daniel J. Sullivan of acting as a spoiler who could divert votes from the incumbent in his close contest with Democrat Mary Peltola. He has denied trying to confuse voters or siphon votes away from Mr Sullivan, saying his decision to run was his own.
The Justice Department argues that the similar names create a risk of voter confusion. Its case was filed in federal court in Alaska late on Thursday under the National Voter Registration Act.
The department has asked that election results not be certified if they may have been affected by voters confusing the two candidates. It has not explained how it could determine which candidate voters intended to support while ballots remain secret.
Mr Blanche said the more precise request was for Alaska not to certify the result “if the law is broken”, arguing that the matter would ultimately be decided by Alaska and its courts.
The two candidates are already listed differently. The senator appears as “Dan S. Sullivan”, with his Republican affiliation and incumbent status shown, while the other candidate is listed as “Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.” without a party label.
Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system allows voters to rank both men. During the August primary, the senator received more than 68,000 votes, compared with 4,107 for Daniel J. Sullivan.
Blanche clashes with CNN interviewer
The interview became tense when Ms Bash asked whether the case risked repeating events surrounding the 2020 election and the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
“Oh, you got to stop it with that. You are not being a real person. Come on, man,” Mr Blanche replied, describing the suggestion as “crazy”. He later said it was “so embarrassing” that the discussion had turned to January 6.
A state court and the Alaska Supreme Court had kept Daniel J. Sullivan on the ballot after Republican election officials sought to remove him, arguing that his candidacy was deliberately misleading. Mr Blanche said those rulings had “explicitly didn’t consider federal law”.
Mr Trump said on Friday that he had ordered the lawsuit. “I’m the one that said do it,” he told reporters in Florida.
Senator Lisa Murkowski, Alaska’s other Republican senator and a supporter of Mr Sullivan’s re-election, said the state had already distinguished between the two candidates and that the Justice Department should not have brought the case.
The Alaska Senate contest is regarded as important to Republicans as they seek to retain control of the chamber for the second half of Mr Trump’s term.
