US President Donald Trump speaks with the media as he arrives at a Halloween party at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, US, October 31, 2026. REUTERS/Evan Vucci TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
President Donald Trump’s preemptive legal challenge to the results of the Senate race in Alaska was dealt a significant blow Sunday after a federal judge threw out the Justice Department’s lawsuit, Politico’s Kyle Cheney reported.
Last month, the DOJ, at the direction of Trump, filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent Alaska state officials from certifying election results if Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) loses his reelection bid. The DOJ claimed that voters could be confused over there being two candidates named Sullivan on the ballot.
In a court filing, the DOJ requested ballots cast for Daniel J. Sullivan — who’s running as an independent against Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and Democratic Senate nominee Mary Peltola — be segregated. But on Sunday, U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason rebuked the DOJ’s argument.
“Requiring the segregation of ballots cast by voters for Daniel J. Sullivan so that these voters can be further investigated by law enforcement is not a remedy that this Court can or should order as it clearly violate [sic] Alaskans’ right to a secret ballot,” Gleason wrote.
As such, Gleason dismissed the DOJ’s lawsuit “without leave to amend,” meaning the DOJ cannot revise its complaint again in the case.
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