Trump demands that Democrat Mary Peltola be removed from the Alaska election after an alleged scheme to confuse voters was revealed
The president called for the Senate candidate to face legal consequences, while Republican Dan Sullivan denounced an election scandal after an investigation revealed that Democratic operatives had allegedly recruited another candidate with the same name to siphon off votes from him.
U.S. Representative Mary Peltola (Democrat from Alaska)
President Donald Trump demanded that the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate from Alaska, Mary Peltola, be removed from the race and face possible criminal charges, following a journalistic investigation linking members of her campaign to an alleged strategy to confuse voters and harm Republican Senator Dan Sullivan.
The controversy erupted after The New York Times revealed that operatives linked to Peltola and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) had allegedly been involved in recruiting another candidate named Dan Sullivan, with the aim of splitting the vote of the current Republican senator in the midterm elections on Nov. 3.
According to the investigation, which is based on internal messages and testimony from people involved in the operation, the organizers searched for citizens who shared the lawmaker's name until they found Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher from Petersburg who ultimately managed to get his name on the ballot.
Trump called the move electoral fraud and argued that Peltola and those responsible should face legal consequences.
"I think they should be prosecuted," the president said, according to AFP.
Dan Sullivan alleges an election scandal
The Republican senator also lashed out at his Democratic rival and called the alleged operation a scandal of the utmost seriousness.
In remarks reported Thursday by The New York Post, Sullivan accused those responsible of attempting to manipulate voters' decisions by fielding a candidate with a name virtually identical to his own.
The ballot lists the Republican senator as Dan S. Sullivan, while the other candidate is listed as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., with no party affiliation.
The controversy is particularly significant because Alaska uses a ranked-choice voting system, which allows voters to rank multiple candidates rather than choosing just one. The Alaska Division of Elections explains how it works here.
The Department of Justice steps in to resolve the dispute
The Trump administration had already filed a federal lawsuit to try to prevent Alaska from certifying the Senate election results if Peltola defeats Republican Sullivan by a narrow margin, while an investigation is underway into possible voter confusion.
For its part, Peltola's campaign denied any involvement in Sullivan II's candidacy and dismissed the accusations as a political distraction.
Although the investigative report documents contacts and efforts by Democratic operatives to promote alternative candidates, it has not yet been established in court that Peltola committed election fraud.
The controversy has arisen less than a week before the Nov. 3 election, in a race considered crucial to the composition of the next Senate.
Alaska also orders an investigation into the alleged maneuver
The decision calls for a new state investigation, in addition to the federal proceedings. However, strategic recruitment of candidates is not necessarily illegal in Alaska, and no crime has yet been proven.
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