Alaska election officials made the right call when they removed a suspected sham candidate from the U.S. Senate ballot. The decision is now facing challenges in both the courts and the state legislature.
Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher from Petersburg, entered the Republican primary just three days before the filing deadline after changing his voter registration from undeclared to Republican. Republicans also pointed to a campaign website that closely resembled GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan's, as well as a campaign consultant with Democrat ties.
Dan J. Sullivan has denied coordinating with Democrat candidate Mary Peltola or her campaign, but the Alaska Republican Party and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) argued the candidacy was designed to purposely confuse voters. The Division of Elections agreed, finding his candidacy was not filed in "good faith."
Sullivan's attorneys have now asked a state court to reverse that decision. They argue the Constitution limits Senate qualifications to age, citizenship, and residency, and that election officials cannot consider why someone decided to run for office. If they prevail, Sullivan's name would return to the August primary ballot.
The legal challenge has also become a Democrat political fight.
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Alaska House Judiciary Committee Chairman Andrew Gray (D-Anchorage) used Monday's hearing to question whether the Division had authority to remove Sullivan from the ballot. Gray pointed to the state's earlier defense of congressional candidate Eric Hafner, arguing Alaska appears to have applied different standards in the two cases.
That comparison doesn't hold up. Hafner was a fringe candidate running from a prison cell, not someone accused of deliberately mimicking a sitting U.S. senator to siphon his votes.
Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher and Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom (R) did not attend Monday's hearing while the case is pending and ballots are being prepared for printing. Lawmakers initially subpoenaed Beecher but withdrew the subpoena after state officials agreed to appear at another hearing on July 22.
Legislative attorney Andrew Dunmire disagreed, testifying that the Division exceeded its authority because the Constitution does not permit states to add qualifications for federal office.
State Rep. Mia Costello (R-Anchorage) argued election officials also have an obligation to prevent voters from being misled.
"The division does have a responsibility to determine whether or not the voters are being misled, whether it has to do with how long they've lived here, whether it has to do with their name."
That is the heart of the dispute, and Costello has the stronger argument. Sullivan's attorneys say election officials cannot look beyond the constitutional qualifications for office. But Alaska's own regulations prohibit placing names on the ballot in a way that confuses voters. The Division was enforcing that standard, not inventing new ones.
Former Democrat state Sen. Hollis French testified that listing both candidates with their middle initials would have solved the problem. The Division disagreed, and given Sullivan's last-minute filing, his freshly switched party registration, and the rest of the evidence, it's hard to blame them.
The primary is August 18. The question is whether Alaska's ballot will carry a name designed to manipulate it. Election officials said no. Now it's up to the courts.
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