An Alaska judge rejected Mary Peltola's request for rejected absentee voter records
An Alaska Superior Court judge on Wednesday rejected Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign request for a list of voters whose absentee ballots were rejected and why, saying the Division of Elections could not reasonably produce the records while processing ballots. The state’s Senate race remains uncalled, with Peltola narrowly leading Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.
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Judge Thomas Matthews said the records could not reasonably be redacted to protect confidential information. Peltola’s campaign said its lawsuit, filed last Friday, sought the data to ensure eligible voters’ ballots were counted. State officials argued that producing the records raised voter-privacy concerns. Sullivan’s campaign intervened, arguing the data could let Peltola’s campaign influence officials’ decisions outside the state’s ballot-review process, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
Newsweek reported that about 86% of votes had been counted by early Thursday. Overseas ballots may arrive through Nov. 18, the election division’s target for ranked-choice tabulation if no candidate wins more than 50% of first-choice votes.
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Reporting behind this story
- The Hill — Judge denies Mary Peltola's request for list of rejected absentee ballots
- Newsweek — Alaska Judge Rules Against Mary Peltola Over Ballot Request
- The Independent — Democrat Mary Peltola loses court bid for rejected ballot list as Alaska count continues
- Anchorage Daily News — Judge denies request by Peltola campaign for absentee ballot data from Alaska Division of Elections
- KSAT 12 San Antonio — Alaska judge rules a request by Peltola campaign for ballot data in Senate race is 'not reasonable'
- Spectrum News — Alaska judge rules request by Peltola campaign for ballot data in Senate race 'not reasonable'