Peltola campaign sues Alaska election officials for names of voters with rejected absentee ballots

Mary Peltola’s U.S. Senate campaign sued Alaska election officials Friday, Nov. 6, seeking records that identify voters whose absentee ballots were rejected and the reason for each rejection. No hearing date had been reported in the coverage SignalData opened through Saturday, Nov. 7.¹²³

The campaign committee, Alaskans for Mary, filed the seven-page complaint in Anchorage Superior Court, where it is before Judge Thomas Matthews, the Anchorage Daily News reported. The defendants are the Division of Elections, Director Carol Beecher and Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, who oversees the division.¹ The campaign is asking for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction, Reuters reported.²

The campaign’s position

The suit is brought under the Alaska Public Records Act and accuses officials of “denying, obstructing and attempting to obstruct” inspection of public records, the Daily News reported.¹ The campaign first asked Oct. 27 for the “accept or reject code” in the Absentee Register for returned ballots, along with documents showing voters’ identities and the reasons for rejection. The requests went to the division’s regional offices. The Daily News reported that the division rejected them and that the campaign says it is not seeking personal confidential information.¹ Reuters reported that the campaign asked again Wednesday, Nov. 4, received no response and was later denied immediate access.²

The complaint says that without the records the campaign “cannot ensure that its voters’ lawful votes were properly counted.”⁴¹ It says officials “constructively denied and obstructed” its request and that delay costs Peltola “the opportunity to help ensure that qualified voters have their ballots counted,” NTD reported.³ In a statement, the campaign said it “is ensuring transparency, timeliness, and accuracy as the counting process continues.”¹

The state’s position

The Department of Law said state law does not require release of the information.⁴² It said the information is “preliminary, subject to change, and not yet available to affected voters.”² The department said “the Division does not distribute the records separately or allow observers to retain them,”⁴ and that releasing them “would create additional burdens during ballot processing.”³ Authorized observers may view certain daily records under confidentiality agreements, the department said, according to NTD.³

“The Division has protected this information for years and will ask the court to protect it too,” the department said.¹² It had not filed a response in court when the Daily News published its report.¹

The campaign of Sen. Dan Sullivan did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily News and did not immediately respond to one from Reuters.¹²

The count

The Daily News reported a 637-vote difference between Peltola and Sullivan with more than 215,000 ballots counted, without giving an as-of time.¹ NTD, in a Nov. 7 article citing an undated Associated Press tally, reported about 640 votes with around 74% counted.³

Alaska Public Media reported Friday that the division would update results Monday and Tuesday.⁴ Ranked-choice tabulation is set for Nov. 18 and certification for Nov. 25, the Daily News reported.¹ The state will accept ballots through Nov. 18, Reuters reported.²

Candidates named in the coverage, alphabetically: Gerald Heikes, Mary Peltola, Dan Sullivan and Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.³

What the records do not show

• SignalData did not obtain the complaint, which is in state court and does not appear on CourtListener. Its contents above are as news outlets reported them, and none of the outlets opened linked to it.
• SignalData could not open the Division of Elections website or the Department of Law’s news release. Vote figures, candidate names, the count schedule and the department’s statements are as the outlets reported them.
• No source opened gives the number of absentee ballots rejected so far.
• NTD reported that the complaint cites a Nov. 18 certification deadline; the Daily News reported Nov. 18 as the tabulation date and Nov. 25 as the certification date. SignalData could not check either against the division’s calendar.