The Justice Department filed suit this week asking a federal judge to block Alaska election officials from certifying the state's Senate race under a narrow, specific condition: that Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses, but that in a hypothetical rerun of the tally, had the ballots cast for a second candidate who shares his name instead been cast directly for him, he would have won once Alaska's ranked-choice system tabulated the results. President Trump said he personally ordered the suit. "I'm the one that said 'do it,'" he told reporters in Florida when asked about it.

The case turns on an unusual Alaska ballot. Four candidates are running in the November 3 general election: the incumbent, Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan; Democrat Mary Peltola, a former U.S. House member; Republican Gerald Heikes; and Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., who is listed on the ballot without party affiliation even though he registered as a Republican to file his candidacy. State election officials had earlier moved to strike Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. from the ballot, concluding his run was intended to confuse voters, but an Alaska trial court ruled against that exclusion and the Alaska Supreme Court summarily affirmed, allowing him to remain on the ballot without issuing a full opinion explaining its reasoning. Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. has said he decided to run on his own; Republicans have countered that his name, his recent switch to Republican registration and his ties to a political consultant who has also been a supporter of Peltola point to a spoiler campaign meant to siphon votes from the incumbent.

The Justice Department's complaint does not argue that any loss by the incumbent should be blocked outright. Its theory is narrower: that if Sen. Sullivan loses the race, but a counterfactual tally in which the votes cast for the other Sullivan were instead cast for him would have produced a Sullivan win once ranked-choice tabulation ran its course, the actual result reflects voter confusion rather than genuine preference, and the department wants a court to order an investigation before any other winner is certified. The complaint also asserts that the United States itself is harmed when a "frivolous candidacy" taints a federal election and undermines public confidence in the government. Sullivan campaign spokesman Nate Adams said the campaign played no role in the lawsuit and that it would "let the DOJ complaint run its course."

The timing of the filing drew attention because Attorney General Todd Blanche had told reporters the same day that the department did not intend to interfere with states' certification of midterm results, while declining to rule out intervention in what he called a hypothetical "doomsday scenario." Hours later, the department filed the Alaska complaint.

The lawsuit has already drawn a sharp legal response. Two Alaska voters, along with the League of Women Voters of Alaska and Common Cause, moved to intervene and asked the court to dismiss the case, urging it to consider Rule 11 sanctions against the attorneys who signed the complaint, on the grounds that the suit was filed at the president's direction rather than on independent legal merit, pointing to Trump's own account of having ordered it. Legal analysts have said the suit faces long odds, noting that the Constitution and federal law assign authority over resolving disputed federal election outcomes to Congress and the states rather than the executive branch. Some have also pointed to the department's pursuit, earlier this month, of a separate lawsuit seeking to block California from counting mail ballots cast by roughly 20,000 people the government believes may be noncitizens unless the state independently verifies their eligibility.

The Alaska race is one of several contests that could help determine control of the Senate after the midterms. With Election Day less than two weeks away, the litigation adds a layer of uncertainty to how, and when, a result decided under Alaska's ranked-choice system will ultimately be certified.

References

1. 1.ABC News — Trump said he directed DOJ to file the Alaska lawsuit over narrow-loss certification scenario
2. 2.CNN — details of DOJ complaint's ranked-choice voter-confusion theory and 'frivolous candidacy' language
3. 3.Yahoo News/AP — Sullivan campaign spokesman Nate Adams statement that campaign would 'let the DOJ complaint run its course'
4. 4.Anchorage Daily News — Nate Adams comments and campaign reaction to the DOJ suit
5. 5.Fox News — Attorney General Todd Blanche declined to rule out a 'doomsday scenario' for DOJ election intervention
6. 6.CNBC — timeline of Blanche's remarks and the Alaska lawsuit filing
7. 7.Newsweek — Alaska trial court and Alaska Supreme Court summary affirmance allowing Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. on the ballot
8. 8.Anchorage Daily News — background on Alaska Supreme Court ballot ruling for Daniel J. Sullivan
9. 9.CNN — background on Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.'s ballot eligibility dispute and potential effect on the race