Alaska Election Commission Carol Beecher released a letter on Monday invalidating the candidacy of Daniel James Sullivan Jr. In her assessment, the candidacy was not serious but intended to cause confusion and undermine the fairness of the election. The excluded candidate can appeal the decision.
Senator Daniel Scott Sullivan, who is defending his seat in Congress, had previously raised allegations of manipulation. His namesake wanted to appear on the ballot as “Dan J. Sullivan, Republican” — only the letter “J” would have distinguished him from the incumbent. “He is deliberately trying to deceive my voters,” the senator argued in his criticism.
Critics of the candidacy suspected an attempt to tip the election in favor of Democrat Mary Peltola. Voters could accidentally vote for the wrong Dan Sullivan, siphoning valuable votes from the incumbent. Both the challenger and Peltola’s campaign team denied these allegations. Beecher’s exclusion letter did not mention any evidence of coordination with Democrats but pointed to details such as the party affiliation adopted shortly before the candidacy and similarities to the senator’s campaign website.
Source: www.spiegel.de
