Trump Thinks Alaskans Could Vote for the Wrong Sullivan. What Can the DOJ Do?

The Justice Department has gone to court in an effort to shape the outcome of Alaska's U.S. Senate contest, asking that certification be blocked in certain circumstances if Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan is defeated. Legal experts doubt the department has authority to do this, and some see it as a possible template for how the Trump administration could treat unwelcome midterm results elsewhere, according to Time.

The department's worry is that two men named Dan Sullivan appear on the ballot, the incumbent and a challenger, Daniel J. Sullivan, and that voters may mix them up. It contends the challenger is running only to help Democrat Mary Peltola. Its remedy would be to rerun the ranked-choice tally with his votes credited to the senator, and an investigation would sort out voter intent. President Donald Trump said he ordered the filing. Recent polls put Peltola ahead by 2 to 7 points.

Republicans earlier tried to bar the challenger, but Judge Thomas Matthews and the Alaska Supreme Court kept him on the ballot. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who endorsed Sullivan, condemned the suit. Peltola's campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee want to intervene as defendants.

Summarized by PolitiKool from Time’s reporting. Read the full story at Time →