Trump's Bid to Block Alaska's Senate Certification Follows Two DOJ Losses in Wisconsin

President Donald Trump said Friday he was the one who told the Justice Department to "do it," and the lawsuit the department filed Thursday asks a federal court to keep Alaska from certifying its U.S. Senate race if Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan loses to Democrat Mary Peltola, ABC News reported. The suit arrived less than two weeks before Election Day, with early voting already underway in Alaska. In Wisconsin, the same department has lost twice this year in its push for the state's unredacted voter rolls, and state law gives the job of certifying the Nov. 3 results to the Wisconsin Elections Commission's chair by Dec. 1.

What the Justice Department Wants in Alaska

The case turns on a second candidate with the same surname. Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher running with no party affiliation, is on the ballot because the Alaska Supreme Court ordered him included in June, after the state Division of Elections had removed him for running a candidacy it found was not in good faith. The ballot lists the incumbent as "Sullivan, Dan S. (Registered Republican) Incumbent" and the challenger as "Daniel J. Sullivan Jr." In the August primary, Peltola took 49.5%, the senator about 41% and Daniel J. Sullivan 2.5%, according to Axios.

The complaint, signed by Stanley Woodward, the department's third-ranking official, sets out a two-part test. If the senator loses, and he would have won had every vote for Daniel J. Sullivan gone to him instead under Alaska's ranked choice count, the department wants certification delayed until an investigation decides whether those voters meant to pick the incumbent. A department spokesperson cited the National Voter Registration Act and called the second candidacy "frivolous." Trump has called Daniel J. Sullivan "the fake," and CBS News reported that he called the dual listing "CHEATING" on Truth Social. Daniel J. Sullivan has denied that Democrats recruited him, and Peltola's campaign has denied any role in his run.

Democrats and Legal Scholars Push Back

Peltola's campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee asked the judge Friday to let them intervene and dismiss the case, calling it "an unprecedented pre-emptive strike on democratic elections." Their filing argues that assuming every Daniel J. Sullivan voter meant to pick the senator is "insulting to voters" and ignores how the ballot separates the two men. No hearing date has been set.

Criticism also came from the right. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, said the department should never have filed the suit, since the state had already distinguished the candidates on the ballot. Walter Olson, a senior fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute, wrote that the case "borders on frivolous" because it reads broad federal duties into the voter registration law's preamble. Notre Dame law professor Derek Muller told the Associated Press the law "simply doesn't let the Department of Justice enjoin certification," and predicted the court would likely dismiss the suit next month, Axios reported. The senator's own campaign said it would let the complaint "run its course."

Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters Thursday that there are hypothetical scenarios, including "some doomsday scenario," in which the department could block certification, The Hill reported. He also said the department has no intention "to improperly interfere" with certification, and earlier this month said it would send 1,000 election monitors to polling places in every state on Election Day.

Wisconsin's Record With the Department

The Justice Department's Wisconsin fight has been over data, not certification. It demanded the state's unredacted voter list, including full birthdates, driver's license information and full or partial Social Security numbers. On May 21, U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson rejected that demand in a 10-page ruling, writing that the department's Civil Rights Act claim "fails as a matter of law." The Wisconsin Elections Commission had argued that state law bars election officials from disclosing driver's license numbers to most outsiders.

The department then asked the 7th Circuit to fast-track its appeal so it could audit Wisconsin's rolls before the August primary and the November election, warning that "many" absentee ballots could go to noncitizens or fraudulent registrants. The appeals court denied that emergency motion June 24, Wisconsin Public Radio reported, and as of late June it hadn't ruled on the merits. By then the department had filed 30 other voter roll lawsuits against states and the District of Columbia, and federal district judges had dismissed nine of them.

Who Certifies Wisconsin's Vote

In Wisconsin, county boards of canvass tally local returns and send them to Madison, where state law directs the Elections Commission chair or a designee to publicly canvass the general election and make certifications on or before Dec. 1. The statute gives the chair 10 days to finish the state canvass once it begins. Nothing in the Alaska complaint names Wisconsin.

The commission's more immediate federal question is about polling places. On Oct. 15 it voted 5-1 to adopt guidance for clerks on federal law enforcement at the polls, telling chief inspectors to alert their clerk, ask to see warrants and badges, and document any encounter. Republican Commissioner Bob Spindell cast the lone no vote, calling the guidance unnecessary. Elections Administrator Meagan Wolfe said she didn't expect anything unusual on Nov. 3. Dane County Attorney David Gault has argued the guidance could lead poll workers to admit federal agents in violation of federal law, while Green Bay Police Chief Chris Davis told Votebeat it was "quite helpful."

In Alaska, Muller said a wide Peltola win or a narrow Sullivan win could make the suit moot. Wisconsin's results will move through county canvasses after Nov. 3 and reach the commission chair, whose certification deadline is Dec. 1.