INTERNACIONAL
Peltola campaign’s alleged Dan Sullivan spoiler plot takes new turn as DOJ faces major legal hurdle
The Department of Justice faces an uphill legal battle in Alaska, where it is trying to convince a federal court that confusion between two Senate candidates with nearly identical names could be enough to delay certification of the election results.
Roughly two weeks before Election Day on Oct. 22, the DOJ filed a federal lawsuit seeking to delay certification if Sen. Dan Sullivan loses and votes cast for another candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan could have changed the result, pending an investigation into whether voters mistakenly selected the wrong candidate.
The DOJ’s complaint stems from a controversy in Alaska where two individuals by the name of Dan Sullivan, one a retired schoolteacher and the other the state’s incumbent senator, appear alongside each other on the state’s ballots. Although Alaska has traditionally been a Republican stronghold in Senate elections, the state’s race could carry greater national significance this year as Republicans seek to defend their narrow Senate majority.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that the campaign of Mary Peltola, the Democrat running for Senate in Alaska, reportedly worked with operatives to recruit another Dan Sullivan to run for Alaska’s Senate seat, hoping voter confusion would draw support from the incumbent Republican senator. Citing interviews, text messages and documents prepared for a potential lawsuit, the Times reported that the effort also targeted other potential spoiler candidates, despite the Peltola campaign’s repeated denials of involvement in the second Sullivan’s candidacy.
TODD BLANCHE CHALLENGES DANA BASH FOR ONLY CITING PART OF CONSTITUTION DURING HEATED ELECTION CLASH
learned Wednesday that federal prosecutors are conducting an «aggressive criminal investigation» into how the second Sullivan secured a spot on Alaska’s ballot, according to two sources familiar with the probe. Investigators are preparing grand jury subpoenas and examining potential violations of voters’ rights, with the investigation expected to continue beyond Election Day. The DOJ declined to comment.
On Sunday, Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee filed a proposed motion to dismiss the Justice Department’s lawsuit, arguing that the federal law cited by the DOJ governs voter registration, not candidate eligibility or ballot design. They also urged the court to resolve the case before Election Day.
Conservatives have argued that two similar names on the same ballot could possibly lead to voters who would prefer to reelect the state’s Republican senator accidentally voting for the retired school teacher. Opponents of the effort to remove Daniel J. Sullivan from the ballot argue that sharing a name with an incumbent is not grounds for disqualification and that Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system allows voters to rank both candidates, potentially limiting the effects of mistaken selections.
Alaska’s Division of Elections initially sided with conservatives, disqualifying Sullivan the schoolteacher by finding that his candidacy was not a genuine, good-faith bid for office but instead was designed to confuse voters into mistaking him for the senator. Alaska Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews overturned the decision in June, holding that the Division of Elections had no authority to void a candidacy on that basis.
Alaska’s general election ballot identifies the incumbent as «Sullivan, Dan S.,» with Republican and incumbent designations, while listing the other candidate as «Sullivan, Daniel J. Jr.,» without a party affiliation, a measure some argue is enough to clear up potential confusion. Lawyers at the Justice Department, however, remain unconvinced.
Although Attorney General Todd Blanche has suggested that officials could examine ranked-choice ballot patterns for signs of confusion, the Justice Department has not explained how those patterns could establish that individual voters mistakenly selected the wrong candidate. Voter privacy protections pose a major obstacle to a potential federal case, as it would be nigh impossible to tie specific voters to specific ballots to serve as evidence of confusion.
ALASKA HAS A VOTING SYSTEM LIKE NO OTHER STATE; REPUBLICANS WORRY IT COULD COST THEM IN NOVEMBER
«This is just the stuff that is just impossible to measure after the fact,» Notre Dame law professor Derek Muller said of the DOJ’s plan to infer voter intentions from anonymous ballots.
Blanche, in interviews with the press, has provided some insight into how he would like the DOJ to go about solving this problem.
«So, because of rank-based voting, voters… they write not just one, not just two, but multiple names on the ballot. And so there are a number of scenarios where it could be obvious that a voter was confused by the way they wrote down candidates,» Blanche told CNN’s Dana Bash.
Blanche’s comments suggest that the Justice Department could examine ranked-choice ballot patterns for potential signs of confusion, although such patterns alone would not establish whether voters intended to support a different candidate.
«It will be obvious from the results and from the ballots that voters were confused, and that could be obvious from the way that they rank the Dan Sullivans or not including a Dan Sullivan on the ballot,» he said in a later interview with CBS.
ALASKA REPUBLICANS SCRAMBLE TO EDUCATE VOTERS ON SUSPECTED DEM PLANT AS ‘BALLOT FATIGUE’ THREATENS RACE
Don Palmer, senior legal fellow for election integrity at the right-of-center Heritage Foundation, told Digital that he feels the Justice Department might have a case if the agency’s lawyers construct it properly. Statistical analysis of ballots alone, he maintains, will likely not be sufficient to convince a judge of the administration’s position.
«You’ll have the opportunity to interview witnesses, do some statistical analysis, and make a decision whether or not the campaign wants to contest the results of the election,» Palmer said. «So it’s actually quite a high standard where you have to bring in witnesses. You can’t generally just prove it with some statistical analysis… the campaign would have to show to the court through statistical and expert testimony, plus witness testimony, plus affidavits, that enough voters were confused, that they made inaccurate choices on what they intended to do. Then and only then could the court determine whether the race should be overturned.»
«If voters voted for the non-Republican Dan Sullivan as their first choice, but voted down ballot for Republicans as their first choice otherwise, that could indicate patterns of confusion whereby voters were looking to vote straight Republican as their first choice and were prevented from doing so because the inclusion of Daniel J. Sullivan on the ballot confused matters,» a spokesman for the America First Policy Institute told Digital.
Ben Hovland, a senior fellow at the left-of-center Center for American Progress and an expert on elections, was more bearish on the DOJ’s prospects.
SEEING DOUBLE: SECOND DAN SULLIVAN ADVANCES, SETTING UP BIZARRE ALASKA SENATE BALLOT
«You’ve never seen a claim like this made under the National Voter Registration Act,» he told Digital. «This is not a matter of federal law. This is a state ballot qualification issue and the Alaska Supreme Court addressed this issue months ago. For the Department of Justice to step in at this point and sort of make this claim, you know, doesn’t appear to be about winning in a lawsuit because it doesn’t seem like there’s any scenario where [they win], this is clearly about trying to sow confusion or sow doubt or set the stage to undermine the results of the election if the administration doesn’t like what the voters will have to say.»
Walter Olson, a senior legal fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute, also isn’t convinced that the Justice Department will be able to get its case off the ground.
«I wouldn’t expect Blanche’s local allies to get very far in this effort unless a federal court rules in favor of his theory that Alaska violated federal (as opposed to state) law by letting the schoolteacher stay on the ballot,» Olson told Digital. «I think the state is likely to beat Blanche in federal court on that point, and that should end the case.»
Alaska has already moved to have the DOJ’s case dismissed.
The DOJ did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Digital on Tuesday.
politics, elections disputes, justice department, voting, elections, midterm elections
INTERNACIONAL
Quejas de los consumidores panameños suman más de USD 26.6 millones entre enero y septiembre de este año
Un total de USD 26.6 millones concentran las quejas presentadas por consumidores panameños entre enero y septiembre de este año ante la Autoridad de Protección al Consumidor y Defensa de la Competencia (Acodeco).
El dato más llamativo no es la suma general, sino una desproporción puntual, toda vez que los 74 casos por vicios ocultos movieron USD 3.954.861,78, una cifra superior a la que generaron las 130 reclamaciones por cláusulas abusivas juntas.
Esa diferencia confirma que el tamaño del reclamo no siempre corresponde a la cantidad de denuncias.
Algunas categorías con pocos casos concentran montos más altos que otras con volúmenes mayores de quejas.
El incumplimiento de garantías encabeza la lista en las dos variables: 1.008 casos, por un total de USD 9.029.278,49.
Entre enero y septiembre, los panameños presentaron 2.562 reclamaciones que suman USD 26.631.922,30, principalmente por incumplimiento de garantías, devolución de dinero y falta de información, según Autoridad de Protección al Consumidor y Defensa de la Competencia.
Después del incumplimiento de garantías aparecen las reclamaciones por devolución de dinero, con 229 casos por USD 3.656.844,49, y la falta de información, con 482 quejas que suman USD 3.478.272,12.
El incumplimiento de contrato sumó 65 reclamaciones por USD 2.476.435,85.
Inmobiliarias, almacenes y agencias de autos concentran la mayoría de las denuncias
Al revisar las quejas por rubro comercial, se tiene en efecto que las inmobiliarias ocuparon el primer lugar con 321 casos.
Los almacenes por departamentos siguieron con 288 reclamaciones, y las agencias de autos cerraron el podio con 254.
El informe de la entidad gubernamental también revela que los comercios de electrodomésticos y equipos electrónicos sumaron 228 quejas.
En tanto, la venta de autos usados acumuló 124 casos, mientras que los establecimientos de venta de celulares registraron 102.
También figuran 101 quejas vinculadas a televisión por cable, 95 por hoteles o planes vacacionales y 92 por talleres de reparación de autos.
Los repuestos para vehículos y los servicios de telefonía registraron 53 casos cada uno.
El resto de las actividades señaladas, siempre de acuerdo a un informe de la Autoridad de Protección al Consumidor y Defensa de la Competencia, incluye bancos (49 casos), actividades recreativas (48), funerarias (45) y servicios profesionales (43).
Las mueblerías y los talleres de reparación no automotrices sumaron 40 quejas cada uno.
Completan el listado las agencias de motos (32 casos), las universidades (31), los cursos de inglés (28), las joyerías y relojerías (28) y las ópticas (26).
La entidad de protección al consumidor recordó a los consumidores la importancia de conocer sus derechos antes de contratar un servicio o adquirir un producto. El organismo recomienda revisar las condiciones de cada operación de forma previa.
La institución gubernamental también insistió en conservar facturas, contratos, garantías y comprobantes de pago.
Esos documentos, afirma, respaldan cualquier reclamación posterior que tengan los consumidores ante irregularidades que estime se le presenten.
Cuando un consumidor considera que sus derechos fueron vulnerados, puede presentar la queja correspondiente ante la entidad y aportar la documentación que sustente su caso.
La Acodeco también informó que prepara el lanzamiento de una aplicación móvil que permitirá presentar quejas y denuncias desde el teléfono celular. Se indicó que la herramienta se encuentra actualmente en fase de pruebas y revisión.
El desarrollo forma parte de los preparativos previos al lanzamiento oficial de la plataforma, de acuerdo a la información oficial. Con ella, los consumidores podrán registrar sus casos de manera más sencilla y dar seguimiento a sus trámites.
La institución busca que el acceso a sus servicios se agilice mediante herramientas digitales. El objetivo es que la atención de las reclamaciones gane rapidez frente al volumen actual de denuncias.
factura,documento comercial,pago
INTERNACIONAL
Entre el silencio y la desconfianza, el gobierno de Lula reacciona con cautela a la huída de Flávio Bolsonaro desde la Argentina
El reelecto presidente brasileño, Luiz Lula da Silva, guarda silencio sobre una eventual participación argentina en el plan de fuga de Flávio Bolsonaro. Prefiere, al menos por ahora, no agravar la ya tensa relación con el gobierno de Javier Milei.
La entrada del derrotado candidato presidencial de derecha y su familia a Puerto Iguazú y su posterior viaje a Estados Unidos en un vuelo privado, volvió a poner la figura del presidente argentino en la mira del Palacio del Planalto, sede de gobierno. Pero Itamaraty, la Cancillería brasileña, se maneja con cautela.
El extenso comunicado divulgado este miércoles por Flávio Bolsonaro desde la Florida parece dejar en evidencia la participación de Milei en su plan de salida de Brasil. En la nota, le agradeció “por su valentía, sentido de justicia y legalidad”.
El gobierno de Lula, fuertemente empoderado tras su histórico triunfo en el balotaje del domingo, analiza ahora cada elemento de la fuga del autoexiliado excandidato presidencial del Partido Liberal que incluyó una “cortina de humo” informativo con la falsa noticia de su salida del país el martes como método de “distracción”.
“Lo primero que se debe comprobar es si hubo un apoyo explícito del gobierno argentino en esta salida de Flávio Bolsonaro. Y en caso de que sea así, obviamente tendremos una reacción del gobierno brasileño”, dijo a TN el analista Lucas de Aragão, socio de la consultora política Arko Advice.
¿Puede agravarse la crisis diplomática?
El silencio parece ser hoy el mejor amigo de la diplomacia bilateral. Ni el embajador brasileño Julio Bitelli ni su par argentino Daniel Raimondi -ambos de regreso a sus países tras la crisis de agosto desatada por las descalificaciones de Milei a Lula- responden a los contactos periodísticos.
Pero el diputado nacional del PT (Bahía) Valmir Assunção habló y dijo a TN que “el gobierno brasileño tiene que seguir ignorando a Milei”.
“Es un gobierno de extrema derecha, que no respeta la democracia, que a lo largo de este período aumentó la pobreza en Argentina y la dependencia con el FMI, con el Banco Mundial y con Estados Unidos”, afirmó.
Además, señaló: “Es un gobierno que no tiene democracia. Un gobierno que, si pudiera, esclavizaría a la población. O sea, no podemos esperar nada de él. Tenemos que aumentar la solidaridad y el apoyo al pueblo argentino. Pero tenemos que seguir ignorando a este gobierno porque es un gobierno que apoya a los golpistas. No podemos tener ninguna relación con este gobierno. Pero con el pueblo argentino sí”, indicó
Mientras tanto, Milei sigue mudo sobre la reelección de Lula.
Al gobierno del viejo líder metalúrgico no le conviene tensar los vínculos bilaterales en este momento. De hecho, la salida de Flávio Bolsonaro significó una noticia positiva para el gobierno izquierdista. La huida no solo contrasta con la posición de Lula que se quedó en el país tras ser acusado de corrupción y pasó 580 días preso antes de ser absuelto por la justicia. También allana el diálogo del oficialismo en el Congreso con la derecha más moderada.
Bolsonaro entró a la Argentina al parecer con sus documentos brasileños. Se cree que lo hizo con su cédula de identidad después que la justicia cancelara su pasaporte. Pero aún es una incógnita cómo sorteó los controles del lado brasileño de la frontera.
El senador pasó a la Argentina “con documentación hábil de viaje sin ningún impedimento legal” a través del puente internacional Tancredo Neves, entre la localidad brasileña de Foz de Iguaçu y Puerto Iguazú, según la AFP. Hizo 1500 kilómetros desde su casa en Brasilia sin que nadie lo notara.
El portal G1 dijo que la parte brasileña no inspecciona a todos los brasileños ni a todos los vehículos nacionales que cruzan esa frontera. Además, Flávio Bolsonaro no tenía un pedido de captura en su contra. Recorrió medio Brasil mientras se ponía en práctica el plan de distracción sobre su paradero.
¿Habrá una reaccion oficial?
El gobierno de Lula esperará ahora para tener más datos sobre si hubo participación argentina en la salida del primogénito de Jair Bolsonaro del país.
“Creo que esto va a quedar en el campo de las palabras, de los cuestionamientos diplomáticos, sin grandes impactos prácticos en la relación entre los países. Principalmente en el área que más importa a ambas naciones, que es la relación comercial”, dijo De Aragão.
Además, el analista afirmó: “Brasil y Argentina tienen estructuras institucionales, burocráticas, que dialogan y están consolidadas. Son dos países que tienen una relación histórica, independientemente de los presidentes, si les gusta o no, si se cuestionan o no. Estas estructuras están preservadas por años y años de personas que trabajan, instituciones que se conectan y conversan con los otros”.
Brasil
INTERNACIONAL
Mary Peltola’s campaign, Dems backed covert scheme to field spoiler candidates in Alaska Senate race: report
The campaign for Alaska Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola actively participated in an effort to peel votes away from incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan by recruiting namesake and spoiler candidates, according to an investigation The New York Times published Wednesday.
The covert operation, internally dubbed the «ballot composition project,» allegedly involved aides from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), top campaign advisors, party lawyers and an operative who traveled across the state under assumed names.
In a series of posts on Truth Social, President Donald Trump said Peltola shouldn’t be allowed to keep her name on the ballot, citing the instance as «ELECTION FRAUD.»
The effort began in the summer of 2025, when a Peltola staffer was directed to comb through state voter rolls to compile a list of Alaskans named Dan Sullivan, according to the report.
The plan worked earlier this year when Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher and left-leaning voter from Petersburg, switched his voter registration to Republican shortly before filing his candidacy in the Senate race.
TRUMP SAYS ‘WE ARE LOOKING INTO’ OTHER DAN SULLIVAN ON ALASKA BALLOT, WARNS ABOUT GOVERNOR’S RACE
PERSONAL ATTACKS FLY AS SULLIVAN, PELTOLA SPAR OVER CORRUPTION, CHARACTER AND CONTROVERSY
Elisa Rios, Peltola’s former campaign manager who was fired in August, told the Times that while Peltola was not directly involved in orchestrating the project, she was «definitely aware.»
«Alaskan voters need to know,» Rios said. «There was a lot of speculation, and voters should get the full picture when making their decisions.»
Rios later attempted to retract her comments prior to publication, but the newspaper noted that her initial interviews were corroborated by text messages, internal documents and 11 other sources.
Central to the plan was Democratic operative Jerid Kurtz, who allegedly traveled through Alaska using aliases such as «Zane,» the report states.
TOP ELECTION SCHEMES ROILING KEY MIDTERM RACES AS BOTH PARTIES ACCUSE RIVALS OF TRICKERY
Kurtz allegedly met potential recruits at local pubs and diners, offering outside financial backing to persuade conservative and independent candidates to run and split the right-leaning vote.
«The Democrats cheated!» Trump wrote. «They found a man named Dan Sullivan, put him on the Ballot, then lied to the Court, and said they didn’t know anything about it. That’s perjury. She shouldn’t be allowed to run, and neither should the FAKE Dan Sullivan!»
«Peltola should suffer the Legal and Political consequences for what she has done, A FRAUD ON THE AMERICAN PUBLIC, and Dan Sullivan should be allowed to run without either Mary Peltola or FAKE Dan Sullivan on the Ballot,» he added.
Beyond the second Sullivan, operatives recruited other potential candidates, including drywall contractor Gerald Heikes, according to the report.
GOP SENATOR, EX-HOUSE DEM EMERGE FROM ALASKA’S ‘JUNGLE PRIMARY’ DESPITE FAR-LEFT MEDDLING
They also allegedly successfully pressured progressive candidate David Leslie to drop out of the race to avoid siphoning votes from Peltola, paving the way for Heikes to claim the fourth spot on Alaska’s ranked-choice ballot.
Campaign advisors and the DSCC also weighed creating a third-party «MAGA party» to siphon votes from the incumbent senator before abandoning the idea in May, according to the report.
Jacquelyn Lopez, an attorney with the prominent Democratic firm Elias Law Group, which represents both the DSCC and Peltola’s campaign, was looped into discussions regarding the third-party strategy and field operations, the Times wrote.
Internal messages allegedly showed staff asking whether they needed to «follow up with Jackie about maga party stuff,» while another noted that Lopez was in touch with Kurtz.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE U.S. NEWS
«The Alaskans for Mary campaign has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign and did not recruit any candidates into the race,» Peltola’s campaign said in a statement to the Times. The DSCC echoed that stance, stating it had no role in recruiting either Sullivan or any other Republican candidate.
In a statement to Fox News, the DSCC said it was not involved with Dan J. Sullivan, while pointing to Republicans’ allegations of political shenanigans.
«Republicans have a long history of recruiting and propping up candidates in an attempt to boost their own campaigns, including recruiting a prisoner with a New York address to run against Mary Peltola and spending nearly half a million dollars to secure a spot on the ballot in Alaska for an Arizona resident in the Senate race this cycle,» a DSCC spokesperson said.
The White House pointed to a social media post by Communications Director Steven Cheung on X: «BREAKING: Democrats’ secret, CORRUPT plan to stack Alaska’s ballot EXPOSED!»
The report came just days before Election Day and amid a Justice Department lawsuit seeking to block certification of the election if the incumbent Sullivan loses due to voter confusion over the two identical candidate names.
Under Alaska’s four-person general election system, Peltola enters Tuesday as the sole Democrat on the ballot, facing off against Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, Dan J. Sullivan and Gerald Heikes.
midterm elections, politics, alaska, democratic party, us
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Quejas de los consumidores panameños suman más de USD 26.6 millones entre enero y septiembre de este año
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INTERNACIONAL1 día agoMedios brasileños afirman que Flávio Bolsonaro escapó del país y está en vuelo a Estados Unidos
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- POLITICA3 días ago
El acusado de amenazar a Waldo Wolff reconoció el delito, pidió disculpas en un video y visitará dos museos
