Peltola Sues Alaska Over Rejected Absentee Ballots

Democrat Mary Peltola's campaign has filed a lawsuit against Alaska election officials seeking access to records of records identifying voters whose absentee ballots were rejected or questioned as she holds a razor-thin lead over Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan in one of the nation's last undecided Senate races, The Hill reported Saturday.

The lawsuit alleges that the Alaska Division of Elections refused to release information identifying voters whose absentee ballots were rejected or questioned, potentially preventing the campaign from helping eligible voters resolve problems with their ballots.

"Plaintiff cannot ensure that its voters' lawful votes were properly counted without knowing whose absentee ballots were rejected or questioned, and why," the lawsuit states.

"Each hour and each day that Defendants deny Plaintiff the requested records to which it is entitled costs Plaintiff the opportunity to help ensure that qualified voters have their ballots counted," it adds.

Peltola, a former House member who became the first Alaska Native elected to Congress in 2022, leads Sullivan by just over 600 votes, with about 30% of ballots still outstanding, according to Decision Desk HQ.

The race has not been called.

Alaska election officials rejected the campaign's requests Friday, arguing that releasing preliminary ballot information before affected voters themselves have been notified would interfere with the vote count.

"Alaska's constitution and laws do not require the Division to provide this information in the manner requested by the campaign," the division said .

"Releasing preliminary information in the manner sought by the lawsuit would create additional burdens during ballot processing and could delay the timely counting of votes," officials added.

The legal dispute comes amid heightened scrutiny of the closely contested election, which has already produced a separate lawsuit from the Trump administration.

The Justice Department previously sought to block certification of the results in the event of a Sullivan defeat, arguing that the presence of an unaffiliated candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. on the ballot could confuse voters.

A federal judge dismissed that lawsuit before Election Day, although the administration pledged to appeal.

Alaska's election procedures could keep the outcome uncertain for days. Ballots mailed from outside the United States may arrive up to 15 days after Election Day, provided they were postmarked on time.

Election officials are not required to release another vote update until Nov. 10, although more results could be reported sooner. Final vote totals must be released by Nov. 18.

Complicating matters further is Alaska's ranked choice voting system, adopted by voters in 2020 and first used in statewide elections in 2022.

If no candidate receives more than 50% of first-choice votes, the lowest-finishing candidate is eliminated and those ballots are redistributed according to voters' next available preferences. The process continues until a candidate secures a majority.

Peltola previously won under Alaska's ranked choice voting system when she defeated Republican Sarah Palin in a 2022 special congressional election, making history as the first Democrat to represent the state's at-large House district in nearly half a century.

She subsequently won a full term that November but lost her reelection bid in 2024.

Sullivan, meanwhile, is seeking a third Senate term after first winning his seat in 2014 by defeating Democratic incumbent Mark Begich.

The Alaska contest carries major national implications following Democrats' strong performance in Tuesday's midterm elections.

A Peltola victory would mark the eighth Republican-held Senate seat Democrats have flipped this election cycle, further strengthening their position in the chamber.

Another closely watched Senate race remains unresolved in Mississippi, where Democrat Scott Colom leads Republican incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith as officials continue counting ballots.

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