Sen. Dan Sullivan’s campaign moved Monday to intervene in a lawsuit filed by Democrat Mary Peltola’s Senate campaign, arguing that the case would require Alaska election officials to disregard state law.
The candidates remain separated by a narrow margin after last week’s election. Peltola’s campaign sued the Alaska Division of Elections on Friday, seeking records about absentee ballots that had been preliminarily rejected.
The Division said voters whose ballots were rejected had not yet been notified. It argued that giving Peltola’s campaign access to the information before voters received notice would be improper.
Sullivan’s campaign accused Peltola’s team of trying to change the rules during the count and tilt the process in her favor. Campaign spokesman Nate Adams said the campaign was confident Sullivan would prevail once all legally cast ballots were counted.
As of Monday, Peltola was ahead by a little more than 600 votes, with over a quarter of the vote still outstanding.
Sullivan and other Republicans have also criticized Democrats over an alleged “Decoy Dan” effort involving independent candidate Daniel J. Sullivan. They have claimed the candidate was placed on the ballot to draw votes away from the Republican incumbent.
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy said the independent candidate initially tried to appear on the general-election ballot as Daniel S. Sullivan, using the incumbent’s middle initial. The Division of Elections investigated and rejected his candidacy, Dunleavy said, but a court later ruled that he had to be listed on the ballot.
After a report suggested Peltola’s campaign may have known about the alleged scheme, Dunleavy reopened an investigation into possible wrongdoing.
