US court expands investigation into alleged Alaska Senate candidacy fraud

The United States Department of Justice has expanded its investigation into an alleged attempt to manipulate the electoral ballot in Alaska, in one of the Senate races that could decide control of Congress. The information was presented by Fox Business on the Friday before mid-term legislative election day.

According to the report, operators linked to Democratic candidate Mary Peltola worked to place a second Dan Sullivan on the ballot. The Republican senator seeking re-election is Dan S. Sullivan. The other name is Daniel J. Sullivan, with no position, no political history and, according to the channel, no intention of representing voters if elected.

The case gains weight because around 10% of Alaska's population has already voted in advance, according to the program's presentation. Control of Congress could depend on six races considered to be undecided, and Alaska is one of them.

What the accusations say

According to Fox Business, in June the director of Alaska's electoral division concluded that Daniel J. Sullivan was not qualified to run for Senate and that he was running to confuse voters. He reportedly tried to register as "Dan S. Sullivan", even though he had never been a member of the Republican Party. He appealed and managed to get on the ballot.

Former members of Peltola's team say the campaign helped recruit the decoy candidate. Peltola firmly denies it. "I didn't know anything about any other candidate on the ballot except me and the incumbent," he said, adding that he has no interest in misleading voters and that he knows he can beat Dan Sullivan.

Senator Sullivan, in an interview with Fox, said that Peltola's campaign demonstrated "the most corrupt action that could be taken." According to him, the first topic of an advisor meeting would have been how to cheat. Sullivan also claimed that the Democratic leadership in the Senate was involved in the alleged scheme, an accusation that was not detailed in the broadcast.

Reactions and repercussions

Alaska's governor, Republican Mike Dunleavy, said the episode was not good for the state, the election or the Democratic Party. For him, the case could be a precursor to practices that would be repeated in other elections across the country.

Fox also cited a report from the New York Times, which, according to the channel, exposed behavior that had no place in any election. The newspaper reportedly heard from 12 sources, one of which was identified and worked on Peltola's team. For the Times, a scheme of this magnitude reflects poorly on everyone involved in the campaign, regardless of what they knew.

Former Republican congressman Jason Chaffetz, a Fox News contributor, assessed that Peltola's credibility on the issue is "almost zero." He said that the Department of Justice acts correctly, with dozens of subpoenas already issued, and criticized the ranked vote adopted in Alaska, which, in his view, leaves the system more vulnerable to manipulation. In August, Peltola herself had said that lying to the electorate should be a crime, a statement that was circulated again on the networks.

What to watch out for

Presenter Harris Faulkner drew attention to the possibility that the Senate will not be able to swear in Alaska's winner until the case is clarified. For the market, uncertainty about the composition of Congress is a factor to monitor in the coming days, as the legislative majority influences the fiscal and tax agenda in Washington. The accusations, it is important to note, remain unproven and are contested by Peltola's campaign.

Automatically translated from Portuguese.