Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola faced a legal setback on Wednesday when an Alaska judge ruled against her campaign's effort to obtain records identifying rejected absentee ballots. The decision comes as the ongoing vote count in the state's final uncalled Senate race continues to shift dynamics, with Peltola's previous lead narrowing significantly.
Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews sided with the Alaska Division of Elections, concluding that the campaign's demand for specific data was "simply not reasonable" given the agency's current workload. The judge noted that the division is fully occupied with processing ballots from the 2026 general election and currently lacks the capacity to generate the requested report from the voter registration database.
In his ruling, Matthews emphasized the urgency of the election period, stating that even if the request might have been considered reasonable outside of peak season, the timing was poor. He wrote that the request was neither reasonable nor required at this moment, adding that the timing of the campaign's inquiry could not have been worse.
The Peltola campaign filed the lawsuit last week, seeking information on which absentee ballots were flagged for rejection and the specific reasons for those rejections. Campaign attorney Abha Kelly argued to the court that the vote counting process was "going incredibly smoothly" and that the campaign was not attempting to access confidential data or disrupt the count. She contended that the request would simply centralize transparency that observers already possess in a decentralized manner.
State attorneys countered by citing voter privacy interests, arguing that the records are not public. Assistant Attorney General Margaret Paton-Walsh explained that voters who choose to vote absentee likely do not want to be publicly exposed if their ballots are rejected. The state also argued that producing a customized report would impose a significant burden on election officials during peak processing times.
During the hearing, Judge Matthews clarified that the case was "not about who won or lost the election" but rather about access to public records under the Public Records Act. The campaign of incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan was permitted to intervene in the legal proceedings.
As of Wednesday night, with roughly 86% of the expected vote counted and more than 248,000 ballots tallied, Peltola held 121,487 first-choice votes, or 48.9%. Senator Sullivan trailed with 117,512 votes, or 47.3%. This places Peltola's lead at 3,975 votes, a margin that has shrunk from earlier counts.
Neither candidate has secured more than 50% of the first-choice votes, meaning the race remains on track for ranked-choice tabulation once absentee counting concludes around November 18. Certification of the results is expected by November 25.
The outcome could still hinge on the preferences of voters who selected other candidates. Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. has received 4,100 votes, while Gerald Heikes has 5,426. These totals for third and fourth-place candidates exceed the current margin between the top two contenders. Under Alaska's ranked-choice system, these lower finishers will be eliminated, and their second-choice preferences redistributed, which could prove decisive.
Additionally, a separate vote to repeal the ranked-choice voting system is currently failing, standing at 52.5% to 47.5%. That result also remains too close to call more than a week after Election Day.
