Now
75°
Mon
78°
Tue
82°
by MINA ALLEN | The National News Desk
ALASKA (TNND) — A federal judge has thrown out the Trump administration's highly unusual attempt to block the certification of results from a key U.S. Senate race in Alaska if the Republican incumbent loses. In a ruling issued on Sunday, U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason found that the federal government lacks the ability to bring this lawsuit, which cited the preamble of the National Voter Registration Act.
The preamble asked the judge to stop state officials from certifying election results to allow for an investigation into whether voters were confused by two similarly named Senate candidates who both appear on Alaska's ranked-choice ballot.
Judge Gleason states that such a court order would likely be a violation of Alaskan voters' right to a secret ballot.
"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," wrote Gleason, a nominee of former President Barack Obama.
President Trump said he ordered the lawsuit to be filed because out of the four Senate candidates on Alaska's ballot, two have quite similar names: Sen. Dan Sullivan, the Republican incumbent, and Daniel Sullivan Jr., who is not affiliated with a political party.
Alaska's Republican Party pushed for an earlier effort in state court ruled to keep Sullivan Jr., the non-incumbent, off the ballot. However, those efforts were shut down in June; the Alaska Supreme Court ruled Sullivan Jr. has the right to run as a candidate.
In an interview on Sunday with CNN's State of the Union, incumbent Sullivan said that he would accept the election results, win or lose.
This controversy hasn't stopped Alaskans from voting. Over 86,700 voters in the state have cast their ballots during early voting, according to the latest figures from Alaska's Division of Elections.
2026 Sinclair, Inc.
About the Author
