Democrat Mary Peltola loses court bid for rejected ballot list as Alaska count continues

Detailed summary

The contest is the only Senate race in the country that remains too early to call

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An Alaska judge has ruled against Mary Peltola's campaign in its bid for a list of voters whose absentee ballots were rejected, as counting continues in the state's unresolved US Senate race.

Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews ruled that Alaska's Division of Elections is "currently busy processing ballots ‌from ⁠the 2026 general election" and "simply lacks the capacity to generate the report from" the voter registration database at the behest of Peltola's campaign.

"Even if the request were otherwise considered reasonable ​outside the ​peak election time ⁠of year, it is simply not reasonable nor required right now," the ruling said. With 86% of votes counted as of late Wednesday, Peltola – the Democratic candidate – holds a narrow lead over Republican incumbent Senator Dan S. Sullivan, according to media tallies.

The margin between the two candidates stood at 1.6%. It is the only Senate race in the country that remained too early to call. Ballots are still being tallied in the ranked-vote election, with Peltola and two-term Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan the main contenders. If no candidate secures more than 50% of the vote, the race will head to a ranked-choice tabulation.

Overseas voters in Alaska can return ballots up to 15 days after general elections, making Nov. 18 the final day to receive them. Nov. 18 is also the Division of Elections' target date for conducting ranked-choice tabulations should no candidate win more than 50% of the first-choice votes. Lawyers for Peltola's campaign sued state elections officials last Friday, asking for a list of voters whose absentee ballots have been rejected and the reasons for the rejections.

They said they wanted to ensure all qualified voters have their ballots counted. On Wednesday, Matthews ruled that the request is “not reasonable,” particularly given the time crunch election officials face as they…

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