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Alaska judge rules request by Peltola campaign for ballot data in Senate race 'not reasonable'

Read the original at Toronto Star ↗
Cite

Bohrer, B. (2026, November 12). Alaska judge rules request by Peltola campaign for ballot data in Senate race 'not reasonable'. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/news/world/united-states/alaska-judge-rules-request-by-peltola-campaign-for-ballot-data-in-senate-race-not-reasonable/article_c5b3b3ad-43d1-552d-a4d9-f8d9e4416689.html

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Toronto Star · collected 2026-11-12 · by Becky Bohrer

Quick Summary

In Alaska, a judge denied Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s request for data on rejected absentee ballots, deeming it unreasonable due to election officials' tight deadlines as they continue counting votes. The ruling affects Alaska's ongoing ranked voting system where no candidate has secured over 50% of first-choice votes; overseas ballots can still be accepted until November 18th.
Written by AI on 2026-11-12, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).
See how they differ ↓

AI analysis

Story summary

Mary Peltola's campaign, running for the Democratic nomination in Alaska’s closely watched Senate race against Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, filed a lawsuit on November 10 to obtain a list of absentee voters whose ballots were rejected. On November 12, Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews ruled that the request was "not reasonable," citing concerns over voter privacy and the time constraints faced by election officials as they continue counting votes. The race remains too close to call, with Alaska being one of two US Senate races still undecided from the midterm elections. Ballots are still being tallied until November 18, when overseas ballots will no longer be accepted.

Written for “Mary Peltola Campaign Sue Over Ballot Data” on 2026-11-12, grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.

How they differ

3 outlets covered “Mary Peltola Campaign Sue Over Ballot Data”.

What each outlet says

One AI summary per outlet of its latest article on this story, written from that article alone and checked against it. Open the article for the outlet's own words.

Toronto StarThis outlet12 Nov

In Alaska, a judge denied Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s request for data on rejected absentee ballots, deeming it unreasonable due to election officials' tight deadlines as they continue counting votes. The ruling affects Alaska's ongoing ranked voting system where no candidate has secured over 50% of first-choice votes; overseas ballots can still be accepted until November 18th.

Alaska judge rules request by Peltola campaign for ballot data in Senate race 'not reasonable' (this article)
New York Post11 Nov

Mary Peltola's campaign filed a lawsuit on November 7, 2026, seeking access to lists of rejected absentee voters and reasons for their rejection during Alaska’s closely watched Senate race against Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan. State attorneys argue that releasing this information would violate voter privacy laws. Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews expects to issue a quick decision after hearing arguments from…

Mary Peltola’s campaign files lawsuit over Alaska Senate race absentee ballots — but judge predicts quick decision →
Washington Examiner12 Nov

Judge Thomas Matthews ruled against Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola's request to obtain data on rejected absentee ballots in her closely contested race against Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. The lawsuit was filed by Peltola’s campaign on Friday, aiming to compel the Alaska Division of Elections and its officials to provide information about the rejected ballots as vote counting continues.

Judge rules Peltola request for ballot data in Alaska Senate race ‘not reasonable’ →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Daily Wire
Leans left Hedges 2 of 22 claims Outlet record 59/100
“The articles describe different aspects of the ongoing election process in Alaska, not a single specific incident.”
Washington Examiner
Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 68/100
Fox News
Leans left Hedges 3 of 21 claims Outlet record 67/100
“The articles describe different aspects of the election process: one about vote count results and lead changes, the other about a legal ruling on ballot data requests.”
Fox News
Hedges 0 of 15 claims Outlet record 67/100
“The articles describe different stages of the legal process related to Peltola's lawsuit, with Article A discussing Sullivan's campaign filing a motion to intervene on Monday, and Article B reporting a judge's ruling several days later.”

Story

Mary Peltola Campaign Sue Over Ballot Data
Politics · 3 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↑
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
4
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 4 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
64/100
Toronto Star's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
3
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-12 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Toronto Star · 13558 article(s) · 29 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 29 correction(s)
2026-10-26
Correction
2026-10-24
Correction
2026-10-07
Correction
2026-09-24
Correction

Who wrote this

Becky Bohrer
14 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
If no candidate secures more than 50% of the vote, the race will head to a ranked-choice tabulation.
Sullivan, a key ally of President Donald Trump, is competing against Democratic former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola in a pivotal contest that could determine Senate control.
"More fundamentally, the United States provides no workable plan as to how it proposes to segregate ballots cast for Daniel J. Sullivan on Election Day and then conduct a court-ordered unspecified "investigation" of those ballots in a manner that would preserve voter secrecy," she wrote.
It added there would be no way to do that without violating voter privacy.
It is among a handful of Senate contests this year expected to determine control of the chamber.
There’s also cynicism about whether participating in elections will make a difference.
Trump will travel to Wasilla, about 45 miles north of Anchorage, on Tuesday to rally support for Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, whose unexpectedly competitive reelection race against Democrat Mary Peltola has become a GOP concern ahead of the November 3 midterms.
He said he will not be beholden to a “party boss” or party line, and he rankled some voters earlier in the campaign by not explicitly saying which party he would caucus with in the House if he were elected.
It’s a central theme of the Alaska’s U.S. Senate race, one of a handful expected to determine control of the chamber in the November elections.
California Democrats earlier this year worried they might get shut out of the state’s top-two primary for governor out of fears they were running too many candidates.
Also by Becky Bohrer
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 14 articles by Becky Bohrer →

Topics

Alaska Democratic JUNEAU Republican U.S. Senate

Subjects

Alaska GPE · 3× Dan Sullivan PERSON · 1× Democratic NORP · 1× JUNEAU GPE · 1× Mary Peltola PERSON · 1× Peltola PERSON · 1× Republican NORP · 1× Senate ORG · 1× U.S. Senate ORG · 1× the Division of Elections ORG · 1×

Narrative

A judge in Alaska ruled Wednesday that a request by Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign for a list of absentee voters whose ballots have been rejected is “not reasonable,” particularly given the time crunch election officials face as the state continues counting ballots from last week’s election.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-12

Claims (4 extracted, 0 hedged)

A judge in Alaska ruled Wednesday that a request by Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign for a list of absentee voters whose ballots have been rejected is “not reasonable,” particularly given the time crunch election officials face as the state continues counting ballots from last week’s election. asserted
state → rule → election
Ballots are still being tallied in the ranked vote election, in which Peltola and two-term Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan are the main contenders, and Alaska’s is the only Senate race that remained too early to call. asserted
that → tally → which
The state accepts ballots up to 15 days after general elections from overseas voters, making Nov. 18 the final day to receive those. asserted
state → accept → those
That date is also the Division of Elections’ target for conducting ranked vote tabulations if no candidate wins more than 50% of the first-choice votes. asserted
candidate → conduct → votes
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