By
/ CBS News
Washington — Attorney General Todd Blanche said Sunday that the Justice Department was looking to "put guardrails in place" with its move to prevent the Alaska Senate election from being certified if there is evidence that voters were confused by a second Dan Sullivan on the ballot.
"This is the Department of Justice doing our own research under the law," Blanche said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."
The Justice Department filed a lawsuit last week to preemptively challenge the certification of Alaska's Senate race if the Republican incumbent, Sen. Dan Sullivan, loses. Sullivan is facing off against Democratic candidate Mary Peltola in next week's election, in a race that has appeared closer than initially expected in a state that President Trump won in 2024 by double digits. But the state has a top-four primary and ranked-choice voting election system, with another candidate adding a wrinkle to the race.
Daniel J. Sullivan, a former teacher who shares the same first and last name with the sitting senator, announced in June that he was entering the race, prompting a push by the incumbent senator to remove him from the ballot. That month, an Alaska election official determined he was not eligible to appear on the ballot, citing a "determined effort and a deliberate attempt" to confuse Alaska voters. But the challenger appealed the decision, and the state Supreme Court later affirmed that he could appear on the ballot, paving the way for both Sullivans' names to appear.
Blanche emphasized Sunday that the DOJ's lawsuit is "not saying, 'don't certify.'" But if a court determined that the race was decided "because of confusion, and not the will of the voters," then the Justice Department does not think the state should certify the election.
The attorney general argued that it may "be obvious from the results and from the ballots that voters were confused," though he acknowledged that "we don't know what's going to happen yet."
"That could be obvious from the way that they rank the Dan Sullivans, or not including a Dan Sullivan on the ballot, I don't know yet because there hasn't been an election," Blanche said. "But all we are doing is trying to put guardrails in place so that if that happens, there's a system allowed where the ballots are kept in a way so that we can determine whether there was confusion."
Pressed on why the challenge was filed 11 days before Election Day, Blanche said the administration had hoped that the state Supreme Court "would actually issue an opinion and explain their reasoning." He said that it's an issue the president has been talking about for months, saying, "This isn't something new that just came up last week."
Asked Friday about the Justice Department's lawsuit, Mr. Trump told reporters, "Well, I'm the one that said, 'do it.'" Blanche said he had "no idea" to whom the president was referring, and would not discuss his own personal communications with the president.
Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a Republican who also appeared on "Face the Nation" on Sunday, said he thinks it's appropriate "to take a look at" the situation in Alaska.
"I'm not sure why they thought they had to file a lawsuit, other than as Todd said earlier, make sure that you have the ballots right so we can be certain that the Democrats were not successful in confusing candidates to vote for someone else to better position Peltola for being the winner," Tillis said.
The comments came after GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Alaska's other senator, on Friday said she was opposed to the Justice Department's move.
"Alaskans don't need any help voting for their preferred candidates, and the State of Alaska has already handled this by clearly distinguishing the candidates on this year's ballot," Murkowski wrote in a post on X. "The Department of Justice should never have filed this lawsuit."
The sitting senator's name will be noted as "(Registered Republican) Incumbent" on the ballot.
Asked about Murkowski's comments, Tillis said, "there are very few people that know Alaska better than Lisa."
Tillis said he doesn't mind "looking at it," but "I do mind the appearance of filing a lawsuit before we even know if the facts that would substantiate a lawsuit actually occur."
The Peltola campaign, meanwhile, has called the DOJ's move "a despicable political threat to overturn an election."
"We will fight to ensure every single eligible voter in Alaska can make their voice heard and that no bureaucrat or politician from the Lower 48 can interfere with our lawful, secure elections," said Peltola campaign spokesperson Harry Child.