Mary Peltola campaign sues Alaska election officials over rejected absentee ballots
Senate race separated by roughly 600 votes weeks into the count, campaign wants court order forcing disclosure of which ballots were rejected and why, the count has become the opening move of a second campaign in court
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Alaska Democratic Senate candidate, former Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK) speaks during a midterm election night watch party at Sheraton Anchorage Hotel on November 3, 2026 in Anchorage, Alaska.
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Supporters of Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mary Peltola gather for an election-night party at the Sheraton Anchorage Hotel on November 3, 2026 in Anchorage, Alaska.
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U.S. Sen. Dan S. Sullivan (R-AK) (L) walks with his wife Julie Sullivan after they cast their ballots at a polling location at the Alaska Zoo on Election Day on November 3, 2026 in Anchorage, Alaska.
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This combination photo shows Mississippi candidates for U.S. Senate, incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., left, in Corinth, Miss., on Oct. 26, 2026, and Scott Colom in Jackson, Miss., Friday, Nov. 6, 2026.
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Bags of ballots are stored at the Hinds County Election Commission as the U.S. Senate race between Democratic candidate Scott Colom and incumbent Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith has not yet been called, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, in Jackson, Mississippi.
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Mary Peltola's campaign sued Alaska's Division of Elections, Lieutenant Governor Nancy Dahlstrom and elections director Carol Beecher on Friday, seeking emergency court orders compelling the state to hand over records identifying which absentee ballots were rejected and why, Newsweek reports. The Alaska Senate race remains too close to call roughly 600 votes apart, with ballots from overseas voters accepted until November 18.
The campaign, Alaskans for Mary, had requested the records from each regional elections office on October 27 and received no response; a November 4 demand for the documents by the next afternoon was declined in a phone call and follow-up emails. The lawsuit argues that without knowing whose ballots were rejected the campaign cannot verify that votes for the Democrat were properly counted, and that every hour of delay costs the chance to ensure qualified voters are counted before certification deadlines.
The litigation is the race's second courtroom round. The Justice Department sued Alaska officials last month seeking to block certification if votes cast for a namesake challenger to Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., would have decided the outcome — a federal judge dismissed that suit on November 1, two days before Election Day. In Mississippi, incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith's lawyers have sent letters to all 82 counties demanding provisional ballots be set aside, laying groundwork for a potential contest in another uncalled Senate race. The Trump administration, meanwhile, abandoned its federal lawsuit against California over roughly 20 000 mail-in ballots; state attorney general Rob Bonta announced the withdrawal on Friday after a string of court defeats.
Alaska's system — ranked-choice counting, ballots flown in from remote communities, a weeks-long timeline — was designed for thoroughness. It has instead produced a schedule in which the counting and the lawyering run in parallel, and the outcome may be decided by whichever campaign is better prepared for the second phase. The campaign that wins will be the one that knows which ballots were thrown out.