US Justice Department seeks separate storage of ballots in Alaska election — Der Spiegel
The US Department of Justice has asked a court in Anchorage, Alaska, to require the separate storage of certain election ballots in the Senate election. These are votes cast for political newcomer Dan J. Sullivan, who has the same name as incumbent Republican Senator Dan S. Sullivan, Der Spiegel reports.
Purpose of the motion
The federal agency wants to ensure the possibility of further examination of the ballots if it becomes necessary. Such an analysis could address whether voters made mistakes during voting because the two candidates have identical names.
US President Donald Trump’s Republicans have long suspected Democrats of allegedly persuading the incumbent senator’s namesake to run for tactical reasons. According to Republicans, this could have misled voters and reduced the incumbent senator’s chances while improving the prospects of Democratic candidate Mary Peltola.
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Investigation and lawsuit
The US Department of Justice also confirmed that it is conducting a criminal investigation over suspected attempts to deceive voters during the Alaska Senate election. At the same time, no official evidence supporting these suspicions has been made public so far.
Earlier, The New York Times wrote that Peltola’s allies had allegedly been looking for a person with the same name as the incumbent senator long before the election. Her campaign denies involvement in Dan J. Sullivan’s nomination. Der Spiegel also reports that Trump personally instructed the federal Justice Department to file a lawsuit against the state in order to prevent the election results from being certified if the incumbent senator lacks votes because of possible confusion.
The lawsuit is criticized as federal government interference in a state election. The question is also being raised as to whether it is possible after the vote to reliably establish what exactly influenced individual voters’ choices.
