DOJ Sues to Freeze Alaska Senate Certification Over Duplicate Ballot Names

Approximately 35 million Americans have already cast their ballots in the 2026 midterms, and the process has proceeded without major disruption so far. That quiet start stands in sharp contrast to the legal battles now unfolding in state and federal courts. The Justice Department filed a lawsuit late last week that seeks to halt the certification of the Alaska U.S. Senate race.

The federal government is demanding that a court freeze the final results until it determines whether voters were confused by the presence of two candidates named Dan Sullivan on the ballot. This is the first time since the Civil Rights era that the federal government has sued to stop the certification of an election, a duty the Constitution assigns to the states. President Donald Trump directed the department to take this action, citing the potential for a Republican loss in the race against Democratic candidate Mary Peltola.

Trump expanded his legal offensive by calling for the prosecution of Peltola. He based this demand on a report that her campaign helped recruit a challenger named Dan Sullivan to split the vote from the incumbent Republican, who shares the same name. The president told reporters this week that he would accept the election results only if they are "honest elections," a statement that follows his long history of claiming victories are stolen when his party trails.

Legal experts say the administration’s move is aggressive but faces steep constitutional hurdles. Derek Muller, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame, described the lawsuit’s legal argument as "one of the worst ones I’ve ever seen." He noted that the administration’s conduct appears impulsive rather than strategic. He added that the idea of a systemic effort to thwart the will of voters remains speculative.

The Justice Department has faced repeated rejections in court over its election-related lawsuits. A federal judge in California rejected the government’s demand to block the counting of ballots after it alleged the state had 20,000 noncitizens on its rolls. The administration also lost a similar demand in Washington state, which involved about 400 voters. Courts have put on hold two executive orders from the president that sought to change voting procedures, citing the lack of direct presidential power over election administration.

Attorney General Todd Blanche said the department did not want to intervene but had no choice in Alaska. "We are not doing anything improper," Blanche said on CNN Sunday. He emphasized that the president is not trying to take over a state election in any way, shape, or form. Trump, however, told reporters he was the one who pushed for the lawsuit, saying, "I’m the one that said do it."

Republican allies in Alaska have voiced reservations about the federal intervention. Senator Lisa Murkowski said the administration "should never have filed" the suit. The state’s Republican-controlled government filed court papers to try to have the case dismissed. Senator Dan Sullivan did not say whether he supported the lawsuit. Meanwhile, the Justice Department is also investigating the 2020 presidential election in Georgia’s Fulton County, a probe that has yet to produce evidence of fraud.

The administration has announced a $1 million bounty for anyone who provides proof of current or prior voter fraud. It is unclear how the president plans to follow through on that offer. Theresa Lee, a senior attorney with the ACLU, said her organization has been preparing for this type of action for at least a year and a half. "We’ve been preparing for just as long, if not longer," Lee said.