The Justice Department has asked a federal judge in Alaska not to certify the state’s U.S. Senate election if Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan loses in a way that could be attributed to another candidate named Dan J. Sullivan, according to reporting on the October 22 lawsuit^1,2,3,4.

President Donald Trump told reporters he directed the department to bring the case, ABC News and Axios reported^1,2. Attorney General Todd Blanche later defended the suit on Sunday television, saying the department wants a way to remedy alleged confusion rather than name a senator⁴.

The incumbent faces Democrat Mary Peltola and undeclared candidate Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., whose name the state lists with a suffix and without a party label after Alaska’s Supreme Court kept him on the ballot^1,2,3. Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward wrote that certification should not proceed if Sullivan loses and would have won had all votes for Daniel J. Sullivan been treated as his under ranked-choice counting^1,2.

A Justice Department spokesperson said the Division of Elections had determined the candidacy was intended to mislead voters and that the department was acting under the National Voter Registration Act^1,2. Sen. Sullivan’s office said it would let the complaint run its course¹. Peltola’s campaign called the suit a threat to overturn an election¹.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican who endorsed the incumbent, said Alaskans can tell the candidates apart and that the state already distinguished them on the ballot³. Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee asked to intervene and dismiss the case as unsupported by law, noting the state supreme court ruling³.

Civic groups including the League of Women Voters of Alaska and Common Cause also sought to intervene, arguing the case risks disenfranchising voters³. Dan J. Sullivan said by email the suit misuses the department after that state-court resolution and that the primary showed little confusion^3,4.

Axios cited Notre Dame law professor Derek Muller, via the Associated Press, saying the voter-registration statute does not let the department enjoin certification². Legal analysts quoted locally said the claim may be moot unless Peltola wins by fewer votes than Dan J. Sullivan receives³.

Judge Sharon Gleason has not ruled on the pending motions³. Blanche said the relief sought is to preserve ballots for possible later review⁴. How the court will treat the department’s authority, and whether the result will even present the hypothetical, remains unknown^2,3.