What's going on with Dan Sullivan and Dan Sullivan? The Alaska Senate litigation, explained
One of them is a Republican senator and ally of the president. The other is a retired schoolteacher whom Republicans accuse of being a Democratic plant to siphon away votes.
In the recent midterm election, the administration of President Donald Trump took the unprecedented step of filing a lawsuit to block the results, all due to the presence of two Dan Sullivans on the Alaska Senate ballot. One Dan Sullivan is a Republican senator and ally of the president, while the other is a retired schoolteacher who Republicans claim to be a Democratic plant to distract votes.
Trump directed the Justice Department to initiate the lawsuit, which could determine control of the Senate as the campaign is predicted to be decided by a narrow margin. Due to the potential for voter confusion, Republicans have been attempting to remove the second Dan Sullivan from the ballot for months. However, their efforts were unsuccessful when the case reached the Alaska Supreme Court.
The lawsuit was ultimately filed in federal court to prevent the certification of election results if its Dan Sullivan loses. The lawsuit has no chance of success as it is based on a vague turn of phrase from a clause in the National Voter Registration Act. The lawsuit aims to block certification until an investigation determines whether the two Sullivans were confusing enough to have altered the election.
Written by urgent.news from PBS NewsHour's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
