By — Becky Bohrer, Associated Press Becky Bohrer, Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/judge-weighs-lawsuit-brought-by-peltola-campaign-over-absentee-ballots-in-alaskas-us-senate-race Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Judge weighs lawsuit brought by Peltola campaign over absentee ballots in Alaska's US Senate race Politics Nov 11, 2026 11:01 AM EST JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A state judge said Tuesday that he expects to issue a swift decision in a lawsuit filed by the campaign of Alaska Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mary Peltola, which is seeking a list of absentee voters whose ballots have been rejected in one of the most closely watched races of the midterm elections. LIVE RESULTS: Alaska Senate midterm election Peltola's campaign also said it wants to know the reasons for the rejections and said its intent is to ensure that all qualified voters have their ballots counted. Attorneys for the state say the information requested would violate voter privacy. The campaign sued Friday, three days after the ranked choice election in which Peltola and two-term Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan are the main contenders. Absentee, early…
Judge weighs lawsuit brought by Peltola campaign over absentee ballots in Alaska's US Senate race
In short
Mary Peltola's legal team contends that identifying rejected absentee ballots constitutes a public records matter critical to safeguarding voter participation. State attorneys countered that complying would compromise voter privacy because internal records include confidential home addresses that cannot be easily redacted by existing databases. Meanwhile, Alaska election workers are still processing early and overseas ballots, with final ranked-choice tabulations scheduled for Nov. 18 if no candidate achieves an outright majority. Under existing state law, voters are not permitted to correct technical defects like missing signatures once an absentee ballot is submitted.
Key points
- The court's pending decision balances voter transparency efforts against state statutory…: The court's pending decision balances voter transparency efforts against state statutory protections for confidential voter information.
- Ballots are not formally rejected until the state review board finishes its work and elec…: Ballots are not formally rejected until the state review board finishes its work and election results are officially certified.
- Alaska voters currently have no legal mechanism to cure errors, such as missing signature…: Alaska voters currently have no legal mechanism to cure errors, such as missing signatures, that cause absentee ballots to be rejected.