Alaska’s two ‘Dan Sullivans’: How common is ballot stacking, does it work?
Same names on Alaska ballot triggered political firestorm in US, prompting a Justice Department investigation.
The Alaska Senate ballot in the next week’s midterm elections in the United States features two candidates with the name Dan Sullivan – one the incumbent Republican senator and another a retired teacher with no prior political experience.
Last week, The New York Times reported that aides to Mary Peltola, the Alaska Democrat challenging Republican Senator Sullivan for a crucial seat, helped recruit candidates bearing names similar to Sullivan’s in an apparent bid to manipulate the ballot and siphon votes from the incumbent.
The controversy has triggered a political firestorm in the US, and prompted President Donald Trump to order a Justice Department investigation into alleged voter fraud.
According to prosecutors, Artiles paid Alex Rodriguez, who shared the incumbent’s surname, to enter the race as an independent candidate to confuse voters and divert ballots from the Democrat to his Republican challenger, Ileana Garcia.