Politics

Court Rules That ‘Decoy’ Candidate With Same Name As Senator Can Run

Wikimedia Commons/Public/Joe Gratz

The Alaska Supreme Court ruled Monday that a candidate with the same name as the incumbent senator is eligible to run against him.

Republican Senate candidate Dan J. Sullivan will now face Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan in the all-party primary election. The court order of less than 100 words said that Dan J. Sullivan can run “within the confines of existing Alaska ballot design law.”

The Alaska Division of Elections originally ruled him ineligible to run, claiming he filed as a way to confuse voters since he has the same name as the incumbent senator. The Alaska Superior Court overturned the Alaska Division of Elections’ decision. The state appealed, leading to the Alaska Supreme Court’s ruling.

The justices argued that the ballot can include a way of differentiating the two candidates, such as a middle initial, according to Alaska Public Media.

“The Alaska Supreme Court is enabling ‘Decoy Dan’s’ deception campaign. State officials clearly have both the authority and the duty to protect the integrity of the democratic process from candidates who only exist to mislead and confuse voters,” Jason Snead, Executive Director of Honest Elections Project (HEP), said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

HEP along with 14 states filed amicus briefs supporting the Division of Elections.

“Fortunately, the Court left discretion for election officials to clearly mark this imposter candidate in a way that distinguishes him from the sitting senator whose supporters he seems intent on deceiving. That is the bare minimum the integrity of our elections demands, and I applaud Alaska election officials for taking this issue incredibly seriously,” Snead added.

The Division of Elections said Dan J. Sullivan filed to run as a Republican, even though he never had Republican party associations. Christopher Murray, the attorney representing the Division of Elections, said that the Division of Elections later asked Dan J. Sullivan how he wanted to be identified on the ballot, and he said “Dan S. Sullivan,” which is the name of the incumbent senator, according to Alaska Public Media. Hours later, Dan J. Sullivan emailed again to correct himself.

Murray argued that this was not “an innocent mistake,” according to the outlet.

This does not justify Dan J. Sullivan to be removed from the ballot, according to the court’s ruling. A full opinion will be issued at a later time.