The Justice Department on Friday asked a federal judge in Alaska to order state officials to preserve and set aside every ballot that ranks Daniel J. Sullivan, the little-known Senate candidate who shares a name with Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, and asked for a ruling by Monday, the day before the election. The same day, U.S. Attorney Michael Heyman confirmed a criminal investigation that he said has been running for several months, Alaska News reported.
The motion was filed before U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason. Self Reliance Central reported Friday that Gov. Mike Dunleavy had ordered a state investigation after the New York Times reported that aides to Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign worked with recruiters on a “ballot composition project” involving the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
What the Justice Department wants
The department asked Gleason to order ballots ranking Daniel J. Sullivan kept separate so investigators can examine whether “such ranking was the product of voter confusion,” the Epoch Times reported. “These modest precautionary measures will be impossible after Election Day,” the filing said.
It also asked for fast-tracked discovery from Peltola’s campaign, Alaskans for Mary, and from the DSCC: sworn written answers, documents and depositions. The requests cover consultant Jim Lottsfeldt, Gerald Heikes, David Leslie, any money paid to Daniel J. Sullivan and the reasons Elisa Rios’s job ended, Alaska News reported. Replies were due by noon Saturday.
The underlying lawsuit, filed last week and signed by Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, says the candidacy’s “sole purpose” was to pull votes from Sen. Sullivan, Straight Arrow News reported. It asks the court to block certification if Sen. Sullivan loses but would have won with the votes cast for his namesake.
The criminal probe
At a press conference in Anchorage, Heyman described the Times report as alleging a “sprawling conspiracy to recruit and prop up Daniel J. Sullivan as a sham candidate.” He said the report brought a surge of federal law enforcement resources to Alaska. He did not name targets, and no charges have been filed.
The state Division of Elections found in June that Daniel J. Sullivan filed “with the purpose of confusing or misleading the electorate,” Alaska News reported.
President Trump said this week, “This is voter fraud at the highest level,” and said Peltola “should be removed from the ballot and prosecuted,” PJ Media reported.
The responses
Alaskans for Mary said it “did not recruit any candidates into the race.” Peltola said she knew nothing about other candidates on the ballot besides herself and the incumbent. The DSCC denied involvement, and Daniel J. Sullivan said he entered the race on his own. The state opposes the request, saying ballots are already kept for 22 months and that setting some aside would violate ballot secrecy. Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski said the department “should never have filed this lawsuit.”
The bottom line
Alaska’s own Division of Elections concluded in June that this candidacy was filed to confuse voters. A federal prosecutor now says a criminal investigation has been under way for months. The Justice Department’s request would leave every vote in place and keep the ballots in question apart so a court can examine them once the facts come out.
The state’s secrecy objection is weak. Setting aside ballots by what is marked on them does not tell anyone who cast them. Keeping ballots for 22 months does no good if the ballots needed for review have already been mixed into the general count.
Judge Gleason should grant the preservation order before Tuesday. If the investigation shows that a campaign recruited a fake candidate to trick voters, the people responsible should be charged, whichever Sullivan wins.