阿拉斯加州选举官员于周一晚间提交了一份动议，要求联邦法官“立即”驳回司法部提起的一项诉讼。该诉讼旨在若现任共和党参议员丹·沙利文（Dan Sullivan）落败，则阻止该州的参议院竞选结果，选举官员称该诉讼“没有法律依据”。该诉讼于周五提起，距离大选仅剩11天，而阿拉斯加选民已经开始在一场预计竞争异常激烈、且可能决定参议院控制权的竞选中投票。
Election officials in Alaska filed a motion Monday night asking a federal judge to “immediately” dismiss the lawsuit brought by the Justice Department seeking to block the results of the state’s Senate race should incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan lose, claiming it has “no legal basis.”The lawsuit was filed Friday, just 11 days before the general election and as Alaskans have already begun voting in what is expected to be a highly competitive race that could determine control of the Senate.
司法部律师辩称，选票上出现另一名候选人丹·J·沙利文（Dan J. Sullivan）可能会误导选民，选民可能会把票投给他而不是现任参议员。事实上，他们辩称，丹·J·沙利文决定竞选参议员是“为了误导沙利文参议员的支持者将票投给他”，其“唯一目的”是通过减少沙利文的票数来使民主党参议员候选人玛丽·佩尔托拉（Mary Peltola）受益。但州选举官员辩称，他们已采取适当防范措施来防止此类混淆。
Lawyers for the Justice Department argue that the presence of another candidate on the ballot, Dan J. Sullivan, could confuse voters who may vote for him instead of the sitting senator. In fact, they argue that Dan J. Sullivan decided to run for senator “with the intention of misleading supporters of Senator Sullivan into voting for him,” for the “sole purpose” of benefiting Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola by reducing the number of votes for Sullivan. But state election officials argue they have taken appropriate precautions to prevent such confusion.
阿拉斯加州选举官员在驳回案件的动议中写道：“尽管阿拉斯加面临一种不寻常的情况，即两位美国参议员候选人的名和姓完全相同，但选举部门已采取重大措施在选票上将他们区分开来，以便选民可以轻松确定哪位候选人是谁。但美国根本无权干预州选举，更不用说支持某位受青睐的候选人了。”在此之前，佩尔托拉的竞选团队和民主党参议员竞选委员会（Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee）于周五提交了一项动议，敦促法官莎伦·格利森（Sharon Gleason）驳回司法部的诉讼，美国公民自由联盟（ACLU）投票权项目代表的“共同原因”（Common Cause）和“妇女选民联盟”（League of Women Voters）随后也加入了该动议。
“Although Alaska faces an unusual situation in which two candidates for U.S. Senator share a first and last name, the Division has taken significant steps to distinguish them on the ballot so that voters can easily determine which candidate is which,” Alaska election officials wrote in the motion to dismiss the case. “But the United States lacks authority to intervene in state elections at all, much less in support of a favored candidate.”This comes after Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee filed a motion Friday urging Judge Sharon Gleason to dismiss the Justice Department’s lawsuit, which Common Cause and the League of Women Voters, represented by the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, later joined.
佩尔托拉竞选团队和民主党参议员竞选委员会的律师在文件中表示：“司法部在正在进行的大选期间、距离选举日不到两周的时候提起了这起诉讼，提出了完全由州法律管辖的问题，而这些问题几个月前已由阿拉斯加最高法院明确解决。法院不应允许这起诉讼像达摩克利斯之剑一样悬在正在进行的选举上方，在选民继续投票以及下周开始统计结果之际，为总统和总检察长散布关于阿拉斯加选举的虚假叙事的持续努力提供虚假的合法性。”
“DOJ filed this lawsuit in the midst of the ongoing general election, less than two weeks before election day, raising issues governed exclusively by state law that were definitively resolved by the Alaska Supreme Court months ago,” lawyers for Peltola’s campaign and the DSCC said in the filing. “The Court should not allow this lawsuit to hang like the Sword of Damocles over the ongoing election, lending false legitimacy to the President’s and the Attorney General’s ongoing efforts to spread false narratives about Alaska’s elections as voting continues and as results begin to be tabulated next week.”
阿拉斯加最高法院于6月裁定，丹·J·沙利文可以继续留在选票上，此举维持了高等法院的一项命令——此前，沙利文对州选举官员的决定提出上诉，州选举官员曾表示收到投诉称他参选的意图是混淆和误导选民，因此裁定他不具备参选资格。
The Alaska Supreme Court ruled in June that Dan J. Sullivan could remain on the ballot, affirming a superior court order after Sullivan appealed a decision by state election officials who determined him ineligible to run after saying they received complaints that he had filed to run with the intent to confuse and mislead voters.
州选举官员在文件中写道：“为了确保选票上出现两个丹尼尔·沙利文不会混淆选民，选举部门设计了选票，以便尽可能将他们区分开来。”
“To ensure that the appearance of two Daniel Sullivans on the ballot would not confuse voters, the Division designed the ballot to distinguish them as much as possible,” state election officials wrote in the filing.
司法部提交的最初起诉书中包含了一张大选选票的照片，照片显示现任参议员丹·沙利文被标注为“注册共和党人”和“现任者”，而丹·J·沙利文的名字旁边则没有列出党派代号。此外，州选举官员概述了选民如果仍不确定可以采取的步骤，包括在投票时向他人寻求帮助或在智能手机上搜索更多信息。根据阿拉斯加州选举部门的官方结果，在该州的6月初选禁选中，佩尔托拉获得了49.5%的选票，沙利文获得了41.4%的选票，而丹·J·沙利文仅获得了2.5%的选票。
The initial complaint filed by the Justice Department includes a photo of the general election ballot, which shows incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan labeled as a “registered Republican” and an “incumbent,” while Dan J. Sullivan is listed without a party designation next to his name. Additionally, state election officials outline steps voters can take should they remain uncertain, including asking for assistance from others or searching for additional information on their smart phones while voting. In the state’s June primary, Peltola received 49.5% of the vote, while Sullivan received 41.4% of the vote, and Dan J. Sullivan received just 2.5% of the vote, according to official results from the Alaska Division of Elections.
在州选举官员提出驳回案件的动议之前，格利森于周一晚间批准了佩尔托拉竞选团队和民主党参议员竞选委员会提出的加快审理该案的动议，下令司法部在东部时间周二晚上8点之前对他们的动议做出回应，为周四可能对驳回该案做出裁决奠定了基础，此举赶在了选举日之前。
Prior to state election officials’ motion to dismiss the case, Gleason granted a motion by the Peltola campaign and the DSCC Monday night to fast-track the case, ordering the DOJ to respond to their motions by 8 p.m. ET Tuesday, setting the stage for a potential ruling on the dismissal of the case Thursday, ahead of Election Day.
总检察长托德·布兰奇（Todd Blanche）周六在X平台上发文为该诉讼辩护，并在周末的媒体露面中继续坚持其立场。
Attorney General Todd Blanche posted to X Saturday defending the lawsuit, and continued to double down in media appearances over the weekend.
他说：“司法部并不寻求阻止任何选票的投出，也不寻求阻止阿拉斯加选举结果的认证。该诉讼是由司法部律师撰写的，司法部没有与任何竞选团队或候选人进行协调，而是完全依赖联邦法。”然而，总统唐纳德·特朗普表示，是他指示司法部提起该诉讼的。
“The Department of Justice does not seek to stop any ballot from being cast or to stop the certification of Alaska’s election,” he said. “The lawsuit was written by Justice Department attorneys and the Department did not coordinate with any campaign or candidate, but rather relied solely on federal law.”However, President Donald Trump said he had directed the DOJ to file the lawsuit.
特朗普在前往佛罗里达州参加竞选活动的途中于周五表示：“我是那个说要这么做的人。”目前他和政府因提起该诉讼而面临批评，其中包括来自阿拉斯加州共和党参议员莉萨·穆尔科斯基（Lisa Murkowski）的批评。
“I’m the one that said to do it,” Trump said on his way to campaign in Florida Friday, as he and the administration face criticism for filing the lawsuit, including from Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
*她在X平台上发文称：“阿拉斯加人不需要任何帮助来投票支持他们首选的候选人，阿拉斯加州已经通过在今年的选票上明确区分候选人来处理了这个问题。司法部本就不应该提起这起诉讼。”司法部的法律挑战出台之际，正值人们担心特朗普政府试图破坏即将到来的选举结果，这也标志着在共和党面临糟糕的民调和低支持率之际，试图先发制人地对结果提出挑战。
“Alaskans don’t need any help voting for their preferred candidates, and the State of Alaska has already handled this by clearly distinguishing the candidates on this year’s ballot,” she posted to X. “The Department of Justice should never have filed this lawsuit.”The DOJ’s legal challenge comes amid concerns that the Trump administration will try to undermine the results of the upcoming election and marks an attempt preemptively to challenge results as the Republican Party faces poor polling and low approval ratings.
州选举官员在文件中写道：“如果美国想要让丹尼尔·J·[沙利文]退出选票，本应在早期关于该问题的诉讼中进行干预。推迟认证阿拉斯加的选举结果——但前提是某位特定候选人没有获胜——将干涉州选举管理并威胁选举完整性。”
“If the United States wanted to keep Daniel J. [Sullivan] off the ballot, it should have intervened in the earlier litigation over that issue,” state election officials wrote in their filing. “Delaying certification of Alaska’s election results — but only if a particular candidate does not win — would interfere with state election administration and threaten election integrity.”