2nd Amendment Time

The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit to prevent certification of the US Senate in Alaska if Mary Peltola wins because there are 2 Dan Sullivans on the ballot.

The thing is that Alaska's election are conducted through instant runoff voting, so even if some people vote for the wrong guy as first choice (Unlikely as the incumbent will be clearly labeled as such on the ballot), their 2nd choice would be the correct Dan Sullivan.

Also, there is no precedent for this sort of federal meddling in an election. 

The U.S. Department of Justice filed suit against the Alaska Division of Elections late Thursday, seeking to block the division from certifying the result of the state’s U.S. Senate election if the Democratic challenger, Mary Peltola, wins.

President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday in Florida that he ordered the lawsuit be filed.

“I’m the one that said, ‘do it,’” he said.

Peltola is the leading opponent to incumbent Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, and polls show her with a small lead over Sullivan, but the race also includes two other people — Republican Gerald Heikes of Palmer and undeclared candidate Dan J. Sullivan of Petersburg. In the complaint, the Department of Justice claims that Dan J. Sullivan’s candidacy is “frivolous,” and was intended solely to confuse voters and benefit Peltola.

Until there is an investigation to determine the extent of that confusion, the Department of Justice argues, Alaska should not be permitted to certify the result of the ongoing Senate election.

Legal experts immediately dismissed the federal argument as bunk. ……… 

On the general election ballot, the two Sullivans are listed distinctively, as “Sullivan, Dan S. (Registered Republican) Incumbent” and “Sullivan, Daniel J. Jr.” The state’s Division of Elections does not list a party affiliation for the Petersburg Sullivan, and he is listed as an “undeclared” candidate, a kind of independent, in current records.

In addition, Alaska uses ranked choice voting in general elections, meaning that any remaining confused voters could simply rank both Sullivans in either order.

If none of the four Senate candidates receive at least 50% of the first-choice votes, the lowest finisher will be eliminated and their votes redistributed to voters’ second choices.

This is a part of Trump's ongoing coup attempt.