US Senator Dan Sullivan Claims a “Scheme” Involving a Same-Named Candidate on the Alaska Ballot

Senator's complaint about a same-name candidate on the ballot

Incumbent US Senator from Alaska Dan Sullivan said on Tuesday that voters in the Senate election are being misled by another candidate with the same surname on the ballot, and called it, in his words, a scheme by the Democrats. He told a Fox News reporter about this, adding that voters had approached him. “We are hearing from a lot of confused people. People who think they voted for the wrong person have written to me and apologized to me. As I have said, the scheme is working,” — Anadolu quotes him as saying.

Who the second Sullivan is and what the claims are

According to the senator, some voters mistook him for Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. — a retired teacher who is also on the ballot. The publication notes that the same-named candidate's presence has been used as grounds for claims that Democrats deliberately created confusion. Sullivan's statements came after President Donald Trump demanded that Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola be removed from the ballot and prosecuted, also asserting that the Democrats had organized a plan to mislead voters.

Justice Department lawsuit over certification of results

In addition, the US Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit demanding that certification of the Alaska Senate election results be barred under certain circumstances — in case the incumbent senator loses. The publication provides neither statements from the other side nor evidence of the alleged “scheme”: the claims of a Democratic conspiracy remain statements by Sullivan and Trump, and the position of Peltola or Alaska authorities is not reflected in the report.