Sullivan's campaign moves to intervene, saying Peltola asks the court to 'short-circuit' the absentee review process
Daniel S. SullivanRepublican U.S. senator from Alaska, through his campaign committee, Alaskans for Dan Sullivan, in a motion to intervene
Sen. Dan Sullivan's campaign asks to join the lawsuit, saying Peltola's campaign wants to identify preliminarily rejected ballots it believes Democrats cast and to influence whether they are counted, outside the review process Alaska law gives all candidates.
Responding to
No Alaska statute protects from public disclosure the absentee register's accept or reject codes or the names of voters whose absentee ballots were rejected.
“Peltola now asks this Court to disregard the law and to short-circuit the legally prescribed process for ensuring that every lawful ballot is counted”
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Peltola's campaign sues Alaska for rejected absentee ballot records; the state says the data is confidential, and Sullivan's campaign moves to intervene
On November 6, 2026, Alaskans for Mary, the campaign committee of Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mary Peltola, sued Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, Division of Elections director Carol Beecher and the division in Anchorage Superior Court under the Alaska Public Records Act. It seeks the absentee register showing the accept or reject code for each returned absentee ballot, or other records showing whose ballots were rejected and why, and it asked for a temporary restraining order. The Alaska Department of Law says state law does not require the division to release the preliminary information, which it has long treated as confidential, and that releasing it could slow the count. On November 9 the state argued that the records implicate voters' constitutional right to privacy, and the campaign of Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan moved to intervene, saying the request would bypass the absentee review process the law sets for all candidates. Judge Thomas Matthews scheduled oral argument for November 10.
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
Report on the Sullivan campaign's November 9 motion to intervene and the state's November 9 motion arguing voter privacy, with a statement from Sullivan campaign spokesman Nate Adams and the scheduled November 10 oral argument.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
In its motion, the Sullivan campaign says the Peltola campaign wants to identify preliminarily rejected absentee ballots it believes Democratic voters submitted and to use that information to influence officials' decisions on whether to count them, outside the disclosure and review process Alaska law makes available to all candidates and their observers.
After the quotation
Sullivan campaign spokesman Nate Adams says the campaign is following Alaska precedent to make sure every legally cast ballot is counted and that it remains confident Sullivan will win.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is the Alaska Division of Elections' refusal to give Mary Peltola's campaign the absentee register's accept or reject codes and the names of voters whose absentee ballots were rejected during the 2026 count. The campaign argues that the request would bypass the review process the law sets for all candidates and observers, which defends the division's refusal to release the records.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Mary Peltola
More from this case
Read the full caseState says the data implicates voters' privacy because 'many people would not want the world to know' of an absentee mistake
State of Alaska
“And the information implicates voters' constitutional right to privacy because many people would not want the world to know that they may have made a mistake in absentee voting.”Read statement
Alaska's Department of Law says state law does not require the division to release the preliminary ballot data
State of Alaska
“Alaska's constitution and laws do not require the Division to provide this information in the manner requested by the campaign. 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.”Read statement
Peltola's campaign sues, saying it cannot ensure its voters' ballots were counted without knowing whose were rejected
“cannot ensure that its voters' lawful votes were properly counted without knowing whose absentee ballots were rejected or questioned, and why”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "Sullivan's campaign moves to intervene, saying Peltola asks the court to 'short-circuit' the absentee review process". First published: 2026-11-10. Last updated: 2026-11-10. https://disputeindex.com/events/8612-sen-dan-sullivan-s-campaign-asks-to-join