Justice Department seeks to separate Alaska ballots ranking Dan J. Sullivan

Federal authorities are seeking to isolate ballots that rank Dan J. Sullivan in Alaska, confirming the existence of a criminal investigation into an alleged scheme to confuse voters, according to court documents filed on Friday. The extraordinary move comes after revelations that the campaign of Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola appeared involved in recruiting a rival candidate bearing the same name as the Republican incumbent.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan Wilson stated in a court filing that the government aims to segregate ballots ranking Daniel J. Sullivan to investigate whether such rankings stemmed from voter confusion. Justice Department attorneys argued there is a substantial risk that the candidacy of Dan J. Sullivan will mislead voters and undermine the integrity of the electoral process. Meanwhile, state attorneys countered that Alaska election officials already implemented measures to distinguish the two candidates on the ballot and noted that the state's ranked voting system addresses potential confusion.

Media additions

It remains highly unusual for Justice Department officials to publicly confirm an active criminal investigation. Alaska U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman encouraged the public to come forward with tips, emphasizing that authorities are acting swiftly on credible information regarding voter deception. Peltola denied any prior awareness of the effort to place the similarly named candidate on the ballot.

As election administrators navigate these legal developments, voters and analysts are tracking concurrent federal actions across the country, including nationwide reminders sent to all 50 states regarding federal requirements to retain election records for 22 months. The U.S. Department of Justice sent letters to state election officials on Friday reminding them of these record-preservation rules and warning of potential fines or prison time for noncompliance, according to a copy of one of the letters reviewed by the Associated Press. Kiersten Pels, a spokesperson for the department, noted in an email that the agency relies on state voting records to bring unlawful voting and registration cases. David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, criticized the correspondence as an attempt to intimidate states that already understand their obligations.

The ballot-preservation dispute and record-retention notices unfold against a backdrop of wider federal scrutiny over voting integrity and administrative actions. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday placed temporary holds on aggressive federal investigations targeting U.S. Citizens while probing possible illegal voting by noncitizens in nine states, including California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin. The appellate judges, all nominated by Democratic presidents, agreed with a lower court order pausing those inquiries until after the midterm elections, finding that the public probes had deterred some eligible citizens from participating in election-related activities out of fear of being mistakenly targeted.

Simultaneously, federal courts intervened in promotional materials from the administration. U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Rochon ordered the federal government on Friday to pull three advertisements from government websites and social media platforms, including spots titled "$5,000 to Americans," "Every Democrat Voted Against No Tax on Tips," and "Cost of Socialism." While the White House defended the clips as public service announcements, a coalition of plaintiffs including the nonpartisan watchdog group Common Cause challenged the broadcasts, arguing they failed to promote specific government program benefits and improperly highlighted political claims ahead of the vote.

What happens next depends on several pending legal and administrative developments across the country:

• Pending federal court rulings regarding the preservation and segregation of specific ballot rankings in Alaska.
• Further disclosures from the U.S. Attorney’s office regarding the scope of the criminal investigation into the Alaska voter-confusion scheme.
• State election certification processes under Alaska's ranked-choice voting framework following the conclusion of midterm voting.
• The resumption of federal investigations into noncitizen voting in the nine affected states once the appellate court's post-election pause lifts.