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By Emma Marsden
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Civil rights groups have warned that the FBI could be about to question Alaska voters about which candidate they intended to support in the state's closely watched Senate election, raising concerns about voter privacy and potential intimidation.
In a court filing submitted October 31, lawyers representing the League of Women Voters of Alaska, Common Cause and two individual intervenors argued that such questioning by law enforcement agents about ballots would be "Orwellian and illegal."
In Alaska's Senate election, Republican incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan is seeking re-election against former Democratic Congresswoman Mary Peltola. However, retired teacher Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. is also on the ballot.
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The warning and court action stem from a dispute over whether the two candidates with similar names will cause voter confustion. The controversy has also prompted an FBI investigation into whether donors were misled about which candidate they were supporting.
In the filing, the groups said questioning voters would be unlawful and could undermine the right to a secret ballot. However, the filing does not indicate that FBI agents have questioned voters about their ballot choices. Agents have reportedly contacted donors to one of the candidates as part of the federal investigation into potential deception surrounding the election.
The concerns were raised in a reply memorandum in the federal government's lawsuit against Alaska over its handling of the Senate election. The Justice Department (DOJ) has sued to block certification of the result if Dan S. Sullivan loses and votes for Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. were enough to cost him victory. The DOJ is seeking an investigation into whether those voters had intended to back the incumbent.
However, Senator Sullivan has told Jake Tapper on CNN that he would "accept the election results."
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Newsweek contacted the FBI, DOJ, the relevant campaigns, and the U.S Attorney’s Office for the district of Alaska via email, and the Alaska Governor’s office via online form on Sunday for comment.
Why Civil Rights Groups Are Raising Concerns
The filing, submitted by attorneys for Risé Roy, Jan Jakub Grzeda, the League of Women Voters of Alaska and Common Cause, focused on remarks made by Alaska U.S. Attorney Michael Heyman during an October 30 press conference.
According to the filing, Heyman suggested that law enforcement agents could question voters about who they actually intended to support.
The groups pointed to his comments that federal and state authorities, including the FBI and Alaska State Troopers, were working to ensure votes counted in the way voters "meant and intended" them to count.
They argued that the remarks raised the prospect of agents investigating voters' preferences rather than simply counting ballots as they were cast.
"Pursuing 'election integrity' by sending armed government agents to question voters about how they chose to mark their ballots would be Orwellian and, indeed, illegal," the filing stated.
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They also pressed the practical implications, asking what agents could ask voters, what would happen if a voter refused to answer, how the FBI and state troopers would apply consistent standards, and how much time the FBI would get to conduct such investigations.
The filing also questioned who would ultimately decide what a voter had intended when marking a ballot and whether there would be any process for challenging that determination.
The groups argued that a law-enforcement-led investigation into voters’ choices would intrude on the state's ability to administer its own elections and contravene Alaska's guarantee of a secret ballot
FBI Has Already Contacted Sullivan Donors
The warning comes as the FBI has begun contacting donors to Daniel J. Sullivan's Senate campaign as part of its investigation surrounding the two candidates with the same name.
Agents have approached donors in at least two remote Alaska communities, as well as Massachusetts, asking whether they were confused about which Dan Sullivan they were supporting.
According to the report, an Anchorage-based FBI agent visited a boat dealership in Petersburg, where donor Charles Flint's son was asked whether his father felt he had been "misled" about which candidate he was supporting.
Flint, who contributed $500 to Daniel J. Sullivan's campaign, told the outlet he had not been misled and said he knew which candidate he was backing.
He also said he intended to rank Democratic candidate Mary Peltola first on his ballot, followed by Daniel J. Sullivan.
In Sitka, two FBI agents visited another donor and asked whether the contribution had gone to the Sullivan the donor intended to support, according to the report.The donor, who was not identified, said the conversation lasted around five minutes and was voluntary.
FBI agents also visited the home of another donor in Groton, Massachusetts, and spoke with her husband about potential fraud involving election contributions.
While these visits demonstrate that investigators are already asking people about their understanding of the candidates' identities, they do not establish that agents have questioned voters about how they marked their ballots.
Heyman has said the federal investigation has been underway for several months. He also told reporters that recent revelations had prompted a "significant surge of law enforcement assets to Alaska."
The Two Dan Sullivans Controversy
The controversy intensified following allegations that Peltola's campaign was involved in recruiting the second Sullivan to enter the race, potentially drawing votes away from the Republican incumbent. Peltola has denied involvement in any plan to use another candidate to undermine her opponent.
Alaska’s Republican-led government urged Judge Sharon L. Gleason on Saturday to dismiss the Justice Department’s lawsuit seeking to block certification of a possible Democratic victory in the state’s Senate race, calling it “meritless.”
The state argued the request posed legal and practical problems, saying ballots cast for the other Dan J. Sullivan could not be separated without compromising voter privacy. Attorneys called the proposal “both disturbing and impossible” and said officials had already taken steps to reduce voter confusion.
President Trump has doubled down on his claim that Alaskan voters would be confused by the ballot, saying many Americans won't know what incumbent means.
Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has opposed the Justice Department lawsuit, arguing that the ballot already allows voters to distinguish between the candidates. "Alaskans don’t need any help voting for their preferred candidates, and the State of Alaska has already handled this by clearly distinguishing the candidates on this year’s ballot," Murkowski said. "The Department of Justice should never have filed this lawsuit."
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Daniel Orton and Trevor Davies
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