DOJ sues to freeze Alaska Senate results over name confusion

President Donald Trump has moved from claiming election fraud to legally challenging state certification, directing the Justice Department to block the Alaska U.S. Senate race results. The federal government filed a lawsuit late last week, asking courts to hold up the official count of votes. This action marks the first time since the Civil Rights era that the federal government has sued to stop a state from certifying an election.

The legal challenge centers on ballot confusion involving two candidates named Dan Sullivan. The Justice Department alleges that a Democratic recruit with the same name as the Republican incumbent may have siphoned votes. The administration is demanding a court ruling on this issue before the state certifies a potential Democratic win.

Trump publicly demanded the prosecution of Democratic candidate Mary Peltola, a former congresswoman, based on media reports about the Sullivan name collision. He told reporters this week, “I’m the one that said do it,” confirming his direct role in pushing for the lawsuit. The president also announced a $1 million bounty for proof of voter fraud, though details on implementation remain unclear.

Legal scholars describe the move as a shift from rhetoric to active intervention. Theresa Lee, a senior attorney with the ACLU, noted that her organization has spent the last year and a half preparing for this scenario. Derek Muller, a Notre Dame law professor, called the legal argument “one of the worst ones I’ve ever seen,” suggesting the strategy may be impulsive rather than calculated.

The administration’s actions have drawn criticism from within Trump’s own party in Alaska. Senator Lisa Murkowski stated the administration “should never have filed” the suit, while the state’s Republican-controlled government filed papers to dismiss it. Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the move on CNN, insisting the department was not trying to take over the state election.

This lawsuit joins a series of aggressive federal actions regarding the 2026 midterms. The Justice Department recently sued California and Washington over noncitizen voter rolls and seized records from Georgia’s Fulton County. Courts have already rejected the federal demands in California, noting the timing was too close to the election. Early voting has proceeded with about 35 million ballots cast and no major disruptions so far.

Trump maintains he will accept the results if the elections are “honest.” However, analysts warn that the administration’s current staffing, which includes allies from the 2020 election challenges, increases the risk of executive overreach. Brendan Nyhan, a Dartmouth political scientist, emphasized that the primary threat is actions that cannot be undone by the courts. The Constitution gives states primary control over elections, a principle courts have repeatedly affirmed in recent rulings.