Justice Department seeks to isolate Alaska ballots as criminal probe underway over Senate candidate

Key Points:

• The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking a court order to isolate Alaska ballots ranking candidate Dan J. Sullivan to investigate potential voter confusion with incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan ahead of the ranked choice election.
• A criminal investigation is underway into the Senate race after reports suggested the Democratic campaign may have recruited Dan J. Sullivan, a candidate sharing the Republican incumbent's name, to confuse voters; both Democrats and Dan J. Sullivan deny involvement.
• Alaska election officials argue that segregating ballots is impractical and violate ballot secrecy, noting that the ballot already distinguishes the two candidates by name and party, and the ranked voting system allows voters to rank both if desired.
• The DOJ's public confirmation of the investigation shortly before the election is unusual and has drawn attention, with former President Trump urging prosecution of the Democratic candidate and Dan J. Sullivan.
• Separately, the Alaska Democratic Party has sued state election officials over alleged failures to open absentee voting sites in some rural areas, while the state maintains most sites did open as scheduled.