Peltola campaign sues Alaska for information on rejected mail ballots

As ballots continue to trickle in for the closely watched Alaska Senate race, Democratic candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign sued the state’s elections division Friday to obtain copies of rejected absentee ballots. 

The lawsuit comes as President Donald Trump doubled down on his dangerous demands that Alaska award votes to incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan (R) that were cast for a longshot candidate with a similar name. Alaska is one of two Senate seats Republicans are fighting to hold – along with Mississippi – following the GOP’s overwhelming defeat in the midterm elections.

As of Thursday morning, Peltola led the race by 600 votes. With such a narrow margin, addressing a handful of rejected ballots could prove decisive. 

According to the lawsuit, Peltola’s campaign asked each office of Alaska’s Division of Elections last week for information on all absentee ballots rejected thus far, along with the reasons for their rejection. But the state never responded to the campaign’s request.

“Plaintiff cannot ensure that its voters’ lawful votes were properly counted without knowing whose absentee ballots were rejected or questioned, and why,” the lawsuit reads. “With the counting of absentee ballots and review by the questioned ballot board currently in progress, and certification deadlines rapidly approaching, 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.”

Alaska’s Senate race was at the center of controversy ahead of voting because of an independent candidate — named Daniel J. Sullivan — on the ballot. Ahead of midterm voting this week, Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) sued to stop Alaska from certifying its election results if the incumbent Sen. Sullivan lost the race by a margin smaller than Daniel J. Sullivan’s vote share.

A federal court threw out the DOJ’s lawsuit. Additionally, New York Times data suggests that Peltola has a path to victory — and that the two Dan Sullivans didn’t confuse voters, as Trump claimed.

Peltola’s campaign said the state’s refusal to hand over the records violates Alaska’s open records law.

“Indeed, far from requiring secrecy, Alaska law treats the status of a voter’s ballot and the reasons for its rejection as public information by allowing observers appointed by candidates and parties to attend absentee ballot review board meetings,” lawyers for Peltola’s campaign said in a request for a temporary restraining order to require the records be handed over. “In other words, Alaska law expressly contemplates that members of the public will be able to learn firsthand whether a specific voter’s ballot is accepted or rejected.”

*The Elias Law Group (ELG) represents the Peltola campaign in this case. ELG Firm Chair Marc Elias is the founder of Democracy Docket.