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Justice Department Gives Alaska Ballots Their Own Section

October 31, 2026 at 6:01 AM EDT · New York time

The Justice Department has called allegations surrounding Alaska's Senate election troubling and asked that ballots for a second candidate named Dan Sullivan be segregated. The race could help determine which party controls the U.S. Senate, making the treatment of those ballots significant beyond Alaska. The state's top federal prosecutor did not specify what crimes the department was investigating and said he was not assuming a crime had been committed. That leaves a procedural request on the table without a public conclusion about wrongdoing. Separating ballots would preserve the ability to distinguish them as the dispute is addressed. The ballot now has a job description more complicated than simply carrying a voter's choice. It may also need its own place in the administrative queue, while officials examine questions raised about the race. A close election already gives each vote a lot of attention. A second candidate with the same name gives election administrators an additional filing problem. For voters, the stakes are the Senate seat and the count. For lawyers, the immediate task is deciding how the disputed ballots should be handled. The envelopes are being asked to sit apart, not to settle the argument themselves.

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