Judge throws out the Justice Department's suit to hold up Alaska's Senate result; the race is still being counted, and Trump says the 'other' Sullivan's votes should go to the senator
AP's report (via KBTX) has the judge's reasoning and every side's response; CBS has Trump's post-election demand and how Alaska's ranked count works.
On Sunday, November 1, U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason dismissed the Justice Department's suit seeking to block certification of Alaska's Senate race if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan lost to Democrat Mary Peltola. She called the relief "infeasible" because many people had already voted, said the government offered "no workable plan" to investigate ballots for the second candidate, retired teacher Daniel J. Sullivan, while preserving voter secrecy, and wrote that the effort ran counter to the Constitution's grant of election authority to states. The department filed notice it will appeal. AP also reports the department escalated a criminal investigation with new grand jury subpoenas.
After Tuesday's vote the race was uncalled at the cutoff; NBC called it too early to call, and Sullivan said he was "confident when all the votes are counted." On Truth Social, President Trump said votes for Daniel J. Sullivan and candidate Gerald Heikes "should be immediately given to the REAL Dan Sullivan." Alaska uses ranked-choice voting: if no one tops 50%, last-place candidates are eliminated and their voters' next choices counted. A separate measure to repeal ranked-choice voting was too early to call in NBC's tally.
Across the spectrum 3
Democrat
Devan Barber, executive director, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee: Barber called the dismissal "a victory for democracy and a clear message to Donald Trump and Senate Republicans: No one, no matter how powerful, can toss out free and fair elections just because they don't like the result."
KBTX (AP) ↗Libertarian
Joe Lancaster, Reason: In an October 26 piece on the suit, Lancaster wrote that "it's completely inappropriate to treat an election as fair only if your candidate wins" and that "the ranked-choice ballot itself can take care of this problem," since voters can rank both Sullivans.
Reason ↗Republican
President Donald Trump: On Truth Social, Trump wrote that "the vote totals for the Fake Dan Sullivan, plus the other 'slug' that the Dems put on the Ballot, should be immediately given to the REAL Dan Sullivan, and the Election is over - He easily wins. There is no other fair solution!"
CBS News ↗-
Purcell principle
After exploring Judge dismisses lawsuit seeking to block certification of Alaska Senate race if GOP incumbent loses, the doctrine the judge leaned on is the Purcell principle.
The Purcell principle is the doctrine that courts should not change election rules too close to an election because of the risk of confusion; it is named after a 2006 Supreme Court case.
Wikipedia · Wade · 5 min
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Ranked-choice voting in the United States
After exploring 2026 midterm election live updates as Democrats add to their gains in Congress, GOP grapples with stunning losses, how the count will actually be settled is explained in Ranked-choice voting in the United States.
In the U.S., ranked-choice voting most often means instant-runoff voting or the single transferable vote, used in some cities and states.
Wikipedia · Swim · 30 min
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