Sullivan campaign moves to intervene in Peltola’s absentee-ballot lawsuit

By SUZANNE DOWNING

Nov. 9, 2026 — Sen. Dan Sullivan’s reelection campaign said Monday it filed a motion to intervene in Mary Peltola’s lawsuit seeking preliminary absentee-ballot records, arguing that her request would give her campaign an unfair advantage while Alaska’s vote count is underway.

The Republican senator’s campaign is seeking to join the Anchorage Superior Court case filed Friday by Alaskans for Mary against Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, Elections Director Carol Beecher and the Alaska Division of Elections.

At issue are records linking individual voters to preliminary decisions about whether their absentee ballots will be accepted or rejected. The Division says the information is subject to change and has long been treated as confidential during ballot review.

According to Sullivan’s campaign, its motion argues that the preliminary injunction Peltola seeks would give one campaign better information and more opportunity to influence ballot-review decisions than the process available equally to candidates under Alaska law.

The campaign contends that Peltola’s team could use the records to identify supporters whose ballots were preliminarily rejected and lobby election officials to count them outside the established review process.

“It should surprise no one that the same D.C. lawyers who spent more than a year conspiring with Mary Peltola’s campaign to deceive Alaskan voters are now asking a court to let her campaign ignore Alaska law and change the rules while votes are still being counted,” Sullivan campaign spokesman Nate Adams said in a statement.

“Peltola’s lawsuit is only further evidence that she is not confident she can win on the merits alone, which is why her campaign is once again attempting to rig the system in her favor.”

Adams’ accusations are the Sullivan campaign’s characterization of the dispute. Peltola’s complaint argues that disclosure is required by Alaska’s Public Records Act.

“Our campaign is following Alaska precedent to make sure every legally cast ballot is counted, and we remain confident that when every one of those ballots is counted, Senator Sullivan will win,” Adams said.

As The Alaska Story reported Friday, Peltola’s campaign initially requested the records Oct. 27. It sought the absentee register showing acceptance or rejection codes, or other documents identifying voters whose absentee ballots were rejected and the reasons for those decisions.

The complaint argues that prompt access would allow the campaign to determine whether its supporters’ lawful ballots were properly counted. It maintains that the requested records are public and do not fall within the statutory exceptions to disclosure. The filing lists attorneys from Anchorage firm Reeves Amodio and Elias Law Group.

The state draws a distinction between allowing designated observers to inspect records during ballot review and providing copies for campaigns to retain. The Division says observers can view certain daily records under confidentiality agreements, but those preliminary records are not distributed separately.

In its Friday response, the Alaska Department of Law said the campaign seeks information tied to voters’ names and addresses before decisions are final and before the information is available to the affected voters themselves. The department said producing the records during ballot processing could burden election workers and delay counting.

Sullivan’s intervention request adds his campaign’s objections to a dispute over when campaigns may obtain individual ballot-status records as election officials continue reviewing and counting votes.