In Alaska's Senate race, at least 90 ballots have been rejected due to voters marking both U.S. Senate candidates named Dan Sullivan as their first choice. The campaign of Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan expects the number of rejected ballots to increase.
This development adds a new twist to the closely contested race, where Democrat Mary Peltola is currently leading by fewer than 700 votes. The presence of independent candidate Dan J. Sullivan, who has received over 3,600 votes, has contributed to the complexity of the race.
A Republican operative close to Sen. Sullivan's campaign described the high number of spoiled ballots as "abnormal" and anticipates that more will be discovered as vote counting continues. The Sullivan campaign has contested the inclusion of Dan J.
Sullivan on the ballot, alleging that he was recruited by Peltola's campaign to split the vote. Under Alaska's ranked-choice voting system, if no candidate wins a majority of first-choice votes, subsequent rounds of counting will be held to allocate second-choice votes.
According to a campaign memo, the Sullivan campaign could potentially gain an advantage in these subsequent rounds. The memo estimates that correcting overvotes could net the senator an additional 90 votes. The outcome of the race remains uncertain, with over 20% of the vote still to be counted and a deadline of November 13 for mail ballots to arrive.