Republican officials have called for an investigation into an alleged ballot-stacking scheme in Alaska’s competitive Senate race by Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign.
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officials → call → campaign
For months, Donald Trump and others accused Peltola and Democrats of recruiting candidates with the same name as her Republican opponent, Dan Sullivan, to purposefully confuse voters when they cast their ballots in November’s midterms.
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they → accuse → midterms
Though Peltola’s campaign denied encouraging or soliciting a man named Dan J Sullivan to run, a recent New York Times report indicated Peltola’s campaign did recruit him.
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campaign → deny → him
While ballot stacking is not illegal itself, the US president and justice department have filed a lawsuit pre-emptively to block the certification of the Senate election results if the incumbent senator loses.
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senator → file → results
Here’s what to know about the situation and ballot stacking.
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Here → ’ → situation
What’s happened in the Alaska Senate race?
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What → happen → race
Dan J Sullivan, a candidate in Alaska’s Senate race who shares a name with the incumbent seeking re-election, talks in front of a welcome sign near downtown Petersburg, Alaska, on 3 July.
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who → share → July
man named Dan J Sullivan entered the Alaska Senate race as a Republican in May, challenging incumbent Republican Dan S Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola.
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man → name → Sullivan
Dan J Sullivan, a retired schoolteacher and former US Forest Service employee, had no prior political experience.
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Sullivan → have → experience
Republicans, including Dan S Sullivan, accused Democrats of planting Dan J Sullivan in the race to deliberately confuse voters.
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Republicans → include → voters
Dan J Sullivan told the New York Times that he had no intention of trying to trick voters; rather, he was giving conservative Alaska voters another candidate.
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he → tell → candidate
Peltola’s campaign also denied encouraging or soliciting Dan J Sullivan to run in the election to the Anchorage Daily News in May.
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campaign → deny → May
What has been reported?
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What → report → ?
Mary Peltola reacts during her US election night party in Anchorage, Alaska, on 8 November 2022.
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Peltola → react → November
ReutersOn Wednesday, the New York Times reported that Peltola’s campaign engaged in an effort to recruit Dan J Sullivan, and other potential candidates with the name Dan Sullivan, to run against Dan S Sullivan.
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campaign → report → Sullivan
The information came to light in interviews with at least a dozen people who participated in or were told of the plan, including Peltola’s former campaign manager and longtime aide, Elisa Rios.
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who → come → manager
Text messages and documents revealed Peltola’s campaign staff worked with senior aides at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) to find “spoiler” candidates, including Dan J Sullivan, to run in the hopes of helping Peltola’s campaign.
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staff → reveal → campaign
APBallot stacking is a political tactic used in elections to draw votes away from an opponent by “stacking” the ballot with other candidates.
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stacking → use → candidates
A political party, campaign or outside group may recruit additional candidates to run in an election.
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party → recruit → election
Sometimes the candidate may have a similar name to another opponent or appeal to a similar base of voters.
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candidate → have → voters
Ballot stacking is common and used by both Republicans and Democrats, the New York Times noted.
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Times → use → Republicans
Todd Blanche, the US attorney general, answers questions during a press conference on 22 October in Norfolk, Virginia.
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Blanche → answer → Norfolk
Despite this, Todd Blanche, the US attorney general, told Fox News the situation amounted to “cheating” and “fraud” and that if those outcomes were true, it “certainly should be” considered illegal.
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it → tell → cheating
What would be considered illegal is if anyone lied under oath about the cooperation between Democrats and Dan J Sullivan, which constitutes perjury, the Election Law Blog noted.
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Blog → consider → perjury
Donald Trump speaks to members of the media before boarding Air Force One on Thursday at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.
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Trump → speak → Andrews
Photograph: Andrew Harnik/Getty ImagesRepublicans have expressed outrage toward the alleged ballot-stacking scheme, calling for Peltola to be investigated and removed.
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Peltola → express → scheme
Trump accused Democrats of “voter fraud” and called for Peltola to be “removed from the Ballot and prosecuted”.
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Peltola → accuse → Ballot
Alaska’s governor, Mike Dunleavy, said he would launch an investigation to determine if criminal charges or civil action were warranted.
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charges → say → investigation
Lisa Murkowski, a Republican Alaska senator, denounced ballot stacking and said the report revealed “a pattern of lies and coverups and a culture of deception”.
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report → denounce → deception
However, Murkowski condemned the justice department for filing its lawsuit.
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Murkowski → condemn → lawsuit
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