Peltola campaign sues Alaska election officials for records on rejected absentee ballots

Mary Peltola's campaign sued Alaska election officials on Friday. It wants immediate access to records on absentee ballots that were rejected in the extremely close Senate race against Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan ¹. The race is still undecided days after the November 3 election ¹.

The campaign group, Alaskans for Mary, named the Alaska Division of Elections, Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom and elections director Carol Beecher as defendants ¹. It also wants to know why the ballots were rejected ¹.

On tapeUSA TODAY · Nov 5

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What the lawsuit says

The campaign says it asked each regional elections office for the records on October 27 and got no response ¹. It sent a further demand on November 4, with a deadline of 4:00 p.m. on November 5 ¹. The state declined to provide the records right away that same day, the suit says ¹.

The filing asks an Anchorage court for emergency relief, including a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction ¹. Either would force the state to hand over the records ¹. The campaign says each day of delay costs it the chance to help qualified voters get their ballots counted, because a review board is working now and certification deadlines are near ¹.

From Channel GOPPeltola: Tariffs doubled Alaska air taxi's parts billMary Peltola · 142 plays · captioned, with the source named

I know I can win this race.

The state Department of Law, which represents the lieutenant governor and the Division of Elections, said the records have long been treated as confidential ¹. It said the information is preliminary and could change, and that releasing it as the lawsuit asks could slow the count ¹. The department said it will ask the court to protect the records ¹.

Where the count stands

As of Saturday morning, more than 20 percent of the vote was still uncounted ¹. Peltola, a former congresswoman, led Sullivan 48.2 percent to 47.9 percent, with about 600 votes between them ¹. Alaska will accept ballots from overseas voters until November 18 ¹.

Neither candidate is expected to win an outright majority, so ranked choice counting would follow fifteen days after the election ¹. In that system, voters rank candidates and last-place finishers are dropped. A University of Alaska Fairbanks political scientist said the nation may have to wait on Alaska to learn the Senate's final makeup ¹.

The race has already been in court. The Justice Department sued last month to block certification if Sullivan lost and votes for a second candidate, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., would have helped him ¹. A judge dismissed that suit on November 1, and the department has appealed ¹².

A second Senate fight in Mississippi

In Mississippi, Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith trails Democrat Scott Colom by almost 2,000 votes, with 97 percent counted ¹. Her lawyers sent letters to all 82 counties demanding that affidavit ballots, also called provisional ballots, be set aside and preserved ¹. Mississippi has until November 10 to resolve them ¹.

These measures are necessary to ensure that each affidavit ballot’s eligibility for counting, and ultimate disposition can be verified

That matters because both Republican campaigns and the Peltola campaign are building a paper trail for possible court fights. In a race decided by hundreds of votes, who gets to see the rejected ballots could shape the final count.

Newsweek said it contacted the Department of Law and both Alaska campaigns for comment on Saturday morning ¹. The court has not yet ruled on the emergency request.

The Record

1. Oct 27, 2026Peltola's campaign asks Alaska regional election offices for records on rejected absentee ballots and gets no response ¹.
2. Nov 1, 2026A judge dismisses the Justice Department's suit seeking to block certification of Alaska's Senate result; the department has appealed ¹².
3. Nov 6, 2026Peltola's campaign sues the Alaska Division of Elections in Anchorage and seeks a restraining order ¹.

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<h2>Peltola campaign sues Alaska election officials for records on rejected absentee ballots</h2> <p><em>By The GOP Files Campaign Desk. This article first appeared on <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/story/peltola-campaign-sues-alaska-election-officials-for-records-on-rejected-absentee">The GOP Files</a> on Saturday, November 7, 2026.</em></p> <p>Mary Peltola&#39;s campaign sued Alaska election officials on Friday. It wants immediate access to records on absentee ballots that were rejected in the extremely close Senate race against Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan . The race is still undecided days after the November 3 election .</p> <p>The campaign group, Alaskans for Mary, named the Alaska Division of Elections, Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom and elections director Carol Beecher as defendants . It also wants to know why the ballots were rejected .</p> <h2>What the lawsuit says</h2> <p>The campaign says it asked each regional elections office for the records on October 27 and got no response . It sent a further demand on November 4, with a deadline of 4:00 p.m. on November 5 . The state declined to provide the records right away that same day, the suit says .</p> <p>The filing asks an Anchorage court for emergency relief, including a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction . Either would force the state to hand over the records . The campaign says each day of delay costs it the chance to help qualified voters get their ballots counted, because a review board is working now and certification deadlines are near .</p> <blockquote><p>I know I can win this race.</p><p>&mdash; Mary Peltola, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, Alaska</p></blockquote> <p>The state Department of Law, which represents the lieutenant governor and the Division of Elections, said the records have long been treated as confidential . It said the information is preliminary and could change, and that releasing it as the lawsuit asks could slow the count . The department said it will ask the court to protect the records .</p> <h2>Where the count stands</h2> <p>As of Saturday morning, more than 20 percent of the vote was still uncounted . Peltola, a former congresswoman, led Sullivan 48.2 percent to 47.9 percent, with about 600 votes between them . Alaska will accept ballots from overseas voters until November 18 .</p> <p>Neither candidate is expected to win an outright majority, so ranked choice counting would follow fifteen days after the election . In that system, voters rank candidates and last-place finishers are dropped. A University of Alaska Fairbanks political scientist said the nation may have to wait on Alaska to learn the Senate&#39;s final makeup .</p> <p>The race has already been in court. The Justice Department sued last month to block certification if Sullivan lost and votes for a second candidate, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., would have helped him . A judge dismissed that suit on November 1, and the department has appealed .</p> <h2>A second Senate fight in Mississippi</h2> <p>In Mississippi, Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith trails Democrat Scott Colom by almost 2,000 votes, with 97 percent counted . Her lawyers sent letters to all 82 counties demanding that affidavit ballots, also called provisional ballots, be set aside and preserved . Mississippi has until November 10 to resolve them .</p> <blockquote><p>These measures are necessary to ensure that each affidavit ballot’s eligibility for counting, and ultimate disposition can be verified</p><p>&mdash; Cindy Hyde-Smith, U.S. senator, Republican-Mississippi</p></blockquote> <p>That matters because both Republican campaigns and the Peltola campaign are building a paper trail for possible court fights. In a race decided by hundreds of votes, who gets to see the rejected ballots could shape the final count.</p> <p>Newsweek said it contacted the Department of Law and both Alaska campaigns for comment on Saturday morning . The court has not yet ruled on the emergency request.</p> <p><em>Read the original, with every source linked, at <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/story/peltola-campaign-sues-alaska-election-officials-for-records-on-rejected-absentee">thegopfiles.com</a>. Republished under The GOP Files' <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/republish">free republishing terms</a>.</em></p> <img src="https://thegopfiles.com/api/rp/peltola-campaign-sues-alaska-election-officials-for-records-on-rejected-absentee.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border:0;width:1px;height:1px">

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Sources

1. Newsweek, “Alaska Election Officials Hit with Lawsuit from Mary Peltola Campaign” (2026-11-07). newsweek.com/alaska-election-officials-hit-with-lawsuit-from
2. Alaska's News Source, “Court dismisses DOJ lawsuit attempting to delay election certification, separate ballots” (2026-11-01). alaskasnewssource.com/2026/11/01/court-dismisses-doj-lawsuit

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