Todd Blanche Responds to Alaska Scenarios as Trump DOJ Sends Target Letters
The DOJ’s Alaska election probe escalates as the attorney general outlines when disputed ballots could face further scrutiny.
Attorney General Todd Blanche indicated on Tuesday that the Department of Justice (DOJ) may examine individual ballots in Alaska if midterm results reveal voter confusion impacted Republican Senator Dan Sullivan's reelection bid. Blanche elaborated on Fox News that this could occur if Sullivan loses but ballots raise questions about whether voters intended to back him instead of Dan J. Sullivan, a candidate sharing the incumbent's name.
Blanche, responding to Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum, stated: "There's a scenario where the incumbent, Senator Sullivan, could lose, but really he didn’t lose because of ranked-choice voting. If it's clear that voters were confused, and again, that's why you need to preserve these ballots." He further added that authorities could potentially "look at the individual ballots" to ascertain evidence of voter confusion.
Though Democrat Mary Peltola was leading in the latest polls, she trailed Senator Sullivan by a narrower margin than earlier this month, implying the ballot controversy involving a namesake challenger has affected but not halted her campaign. The DOJ's heightened scrutiny of the Alaska race is evident as the department has sent letters to approximately 20 Democrats, including election lawyer Marc Elias, informing them they might be targets of a criminal investigation into how Dan J. Sullivan ended up on the ballot. The investigation supposedly probes potential donor fraud and conspiracy.
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