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Monday, November 2, 2026

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Elections · Monday, November 2, 2026

Judge dismisses Justice Department suit over Alaska Senate ballot

The File desk · Nov. 2, 2026, 6:37 a.m. ET

Confirmed4 primary sources

Status

Confirmed. Judge Sharon L. Gleason dismissed the Justice Department's amended complaint on November 1, 2026, in case , for lack of standing. A judgment the same morning says the complaint is dismissed without prejudice. The department filed a notice that it intends to appeal.
  • Confirmed
    The order grants three motions to dismiss and says the department did not show that a court could redress the injury it claims.
  • Confirmed
    The judgment says the amended complaint is dismissed without prejudice. The order also denies leave to amend.
  • Confirmed
    The notice says the department intends to appeal the dismissal orders. It does not name the appeals court. The order's conclusion calls the amended complaint Docket 44. Its footnotes and the docket entry call it Docket 43.
A federal judge in Anchorage threw out the Justice Department's lawsuit over Alaska's Senate ballot on November 1, 2026. The department had asked the court to stop the state from certifying a result pending an investigation of whether votes for a second candidate, Daniel J. Sullivan, were meant for Senator Dan S. Sullivan. The case is closed in that court, and the department has told the judge it intends to appeal.1
Judge Sharon L. Gleason granted motions to dismiss filed by the state and by intervenors, including the campaign aligned with Mary Peltola and the League of Women Voters of Alaska. Her order, in case , says the department did not show standing: an injury the court could likely redress. of the Constitution lets federal courts decide only real disputes a court can fix.1
The order accepts the amended complaint's account only for the purpose of deciding the motions. That account says both Dan S. Sullivan and Daniel J. Sullivan are on the general-election ballot. The relief the department wanted would have blocked the state from certifying any result that voter confusion may have affected. Gleason wrote that many ballots are already cast and cannot now be segregated, and that the department "failed to satisfy its burden to show that its alleged injury is redressable by a court order."1
A command to preserve ballots would not help, the order says, because "the ballots will be preserved for 22 months after the election pursuant to Alaska law." It also says lower federal courts should ordinarily not change election rules on the eve of an election. It dismisses the amended complaint without prejudice and without leave to file another one. A dismissal without prejudice, the order's footnote says, is required when a court finds it lacks jurisdiction. It is not a ruling on who should win the election.1
Why it matters (Estimate). Estimate. Election Day is November 3. The order leaves Alaska free to count and certify the Senate race under its own rules unless an appeals court steps in. The department has said it intends to appeal, but this desk did not open an appeals-court order. The secrecy holding is about ballots already cast: the judge refused to order an investigation of how a voter marked a ballot for Daniel J. Sullivan.
A judgment entered the same morning says the amended complaint "is DISMISSED without prejudice." A notice filed later that morning, signed by Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward, Jr., says the United States "notifies the Court of its intent to appeal the Orders dismissing this action at docket 79 and 80." The notice does not name the appeals court. The order's conclusion calls the amended complaint Docket 44; footnotes in the same order, and the docket entry, call it Docket 43. The CourtListener stamp on the order reads 8:43 a.m. but does not name a time zone.23
How we know

Notes

  1. 1.United States District Court for the District of Alaska, Order Dismissing Action, , Case No. , Document 79, filed November 1, 2026, signed by Sharon L. Gleason at Anchorage. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.akd.80263/gov.uscourts.akd.80263.79.0_1.pdf The order grants the state's motion at Docket 55, the campaign's motion at Docket 57, and the League of Women Voters' motion at Docket 60. It says the United States failed to establish the redressability prerequisite for standing. It says the amended complaint is dismissed without prejudice and without leave to amend. The conclusion identifies that complaint as Docket 44. Footnote 57 cites Docket 43 at paragraph 57 for the relief requested. The order says ballots will be preserved for 22 months after the election pursuant to Alaska law. Defendants named in a footnote: the State of Alaska; Carol Beecher, Director of the Division of Elections; the Election Boards of the State of Alaska; and the State Ballot Counting Review Board. Docket page: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75009254/united-states-v-state-of-alaska/
  2. 2.Judgment in a Civil Action, Document 80, filed November 1, 2026, approved by Sharon L. Gleason. "THAT the United States' Amended Complaint is DISMISSED without prejudice." https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.akd.80263/gov.uscourts.akd.80263.80.0.pdf The CourtListener stamp on the order reads 8:43 a.m. on November 1, 2026, and does not name a time zone. The judgment stamp reads 9:49 a.m.
  3. 3.United States' Notice of Appeal, Document 81, filed November 1, 2026, signed by Stanley E. Woodward, Jr., Associate Attorney General, and E. Bryan Wilson, Assistant U.S. Attorney, for Michael J. Heyman, United States Attorney. The notice says the United States notifies the court of its intent to appeal the orders dismissing the action at docket 79 and 80. The three pages do not name the court of appeals. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.akd.80263/gov.uscourts.akd.80263.81.0_1.pdf

What is still unknown or disputed

  • Whether the amended complaint is Docket 43 or Docket 44. The order's conclusion says Docket 44. A footnote and the docket entry say Docket 43.
  • Which court will hear the appeal. The notice says the department intends to appeal the orders at docket 79 and 80. It does not name the court.
  • Whether 8:43 a.m. on the docket stamp is Alaska time or another zone. The stamp does not say. The order is dated at Anchorage.

Primary sources

Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.

  1. Source 1

    Order Dismissing Action, Document 79

    U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska, via CourtListener · November 1, 2026

    Judge Sharon L. Gleason dismissed the amended complaint on November 1, 2026, for lack of standing, without leave to amend.

    https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.akd.80263/gov.uscourts.akd.80263.79.0_1.pdf

  2. Source 2

    Judgment, Document 80

    U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska, via CourtListener · November 1, 2026

    The judgment says the United States' amended complaint is dismissed without prejudice.

    https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.akd.80263/gov.uscourts.akd.80263.80.0.pdf

  3. Source 3

    Notice of appeal, Document 81

    U.S. Department of Justice, via CourtListener · November 1, 2026

    The United States notifies the court of its intent to appeal the orders at docket 79 and 80. The notice does not name the appeals court.

    https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.akd.80263/gov.uscourts.akd.80263.81.0_1.pdf

  4. Source 4

    Docket, United States v. State of Alaska, 3:26-cv-00376

    CourtListener · November 1, 2026

    The docket lists the November 1 dismissal, the judgment, and the notice of appeal.

    https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75009254/united-states-v-state-of-alaska/