Democrats ask judge to dismiss Trump administration’s challenge to Alaska Senate race

Key Points:

• Attorneys for Mary Peltola and Senate Democrats filed a motion urging a federal judge to dismiss the Trump administration’s lawsuit seeking to block Alaska’s Senate election results if Republican Dan S. Sullivan loses.
• The DOJ lawsuit argues that the presence of a candidate named Dan J. Sullivan Jr. on the ballot could confuse voters and requests that results not be certified if Dan S. Sullivan does not win, claiming misallocated votes.
• Peltola’s campaign and the DSCC condemned the lawsuit as an unprecedented attack on democratic elections and defended Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system and voter intent.
• The lawsuit follows President Trump’s complaints about the similarly named candidates and Alaska’s ranked-choice voting, with allegations that Dan J. Sullivan Jr.’s candidacy was intended to confuse voters, which he denies.
• Legal experts say the DOJ’s case is weak because election administration is primarily a state and local responsibility, limiting federal intervention, and no hearing date has been set ahead of early voting and Election Day.