Alaska judge denies Peltola access to rejected ballot records
The ruling comes as the Democratic candidate's lead over Senator Dan Sullivan narrows to under 4,000 votes.
By Grace Almasi ·
Alaska voters will not see a full list of rejected absentee ballots while the state counts its final uncalled Senate race. A judge ruled Wednesday that the state election agency does not have the capacity to produce the records during the peak of vote processing. The decision blocks the campaign of Democratic candidate Mary Peltola from obtaining details on which ballots were flagged and why.
Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews sided with the Alaska Division of Elections. He determined the request was not reasonable given the agency's current workload. Matthews wrote that the timing of the campaign's request could not be worse. He noted the agency is busy processing ballots from the 2026 general election and lacks the ability to generate the specific report from the voter registration database.
The Peltola campaign filed the lawsuit the previous week. Abha Kelly, the campaign's attorney, told the court the counting process was going smoothly. She argued the request would centralize transparency that observers currently access in a decentralized way. Kelly stated the campaign was not seeking confidential data or trying to disrupt the count.
State attorneys opposed the request, citing voter privacy interests. Assistant Attorney General Margaret Paton-Walsh argued that voters who choose to vote absentee often prefer not to be publicly identified if their ballots are rejected. The state also contended that creating a customized report would impose a heavy burden on election staff during peak hours.
The case is about access to public records under the Public Records Act, not the outcome of the election, Matthews noted. The campaign for incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan was allowed to intervene in the proceedings. The court heard arguments on Tuesday before issuing the ruling on Wednesday.
Peltola held a lead of 3,975 votes as of Wednesday night. She had 121,487 first-choice votes compared to Sullivan's 117,512. Approximately 86% of the expected vote has been counted, totaling more than 248,000 ballots. Neither candidate has reached 50% of the total.
The race remains on track for a ranked-choice tabulation after absentee counting concludes around November 18. Certification is expected on November 25. Third-place candidate Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. holds 4,100 votes, while Gerald Heikes has 5,426. These totals exceed the current margin between the top two candidates and could determine the winner when lower finishers are eliminated.
