Peltola Campaign Files Lawsuit Against Alaska Over Ballot Records

Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign filed a lawsuit in federal court on Friday to compel the state of Alaska to release records for absentee ballots that were rejected by the Alaska Division of Elections. The legal action seeks specific data on which voters were denied access and the reasons for those rejections. Peltola’s team argued that the information is necessary to verify that lawful votes from their supporters were properly counted.

The campaign stated it had requested these records on multiple previous occasions but was denied. The lawsuit noted that every hour the state delays providing the data reduces the campaign’s ability to assist qualified voters. The filing asserts that the plaintiff cannot ensure the integrity of the vote count without knowing the status of specific rejected ballots.

This legal challenge arrives as the Alaska U.S. Senate race remains extremely close. Peltola currently leads Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan by just over 600 votes. Approximately 30 percent of the total vote remains uncounted. No winner has been projected in the contest as of Saturday morning. The Division of Elections responded to the lawsuit in a release, stating that voters themselves have not yet received notice of their rejected ballots. The division argued that Alaska’s constitution and laws do not require it to provide the information in the specific manner requested by the campaign. It warned that releasing preliminary data now would create additional work during ballot processing and could delay the timely counting of votes.

The race has already faced other legal hurdles. The Trump administration sued to block certification of the election if Sullivan loses, citing a potential voter confusion issue involving a candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. A judge dismissed that case before Election Day, but the administration indicated it would appeal. The vote count in Alaska will continue for several more days. Ballots from outside the country can arrive up to 15 days after the election, provided they were postmarked by Election Day. More votes are not required to be reported until Nov. 10, though incremental reporting may occur sooner. Final votes must be reported by Nov. 18.

If no candidate reaches 50 percent of the vote by the reporting deadline, the state will conduct an instant runoff using ranked choice voting. No candidate currently holds a majority. This process eliminates the last-place candidate and redistributes their voters’ subsequent preferences until one candidate achieves a majority. A victory for Peltola would mark the eighth Democratic flip in the Senate following Tuesday’s election results. The vote count is also continuing in the Mississippi Senate contest, where Democrat Scott Colom leads incumbent GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith.