特朗普指示司法部提起诉讼 阻拦阿拉斯加参议院选举结果认证Trump Orders DOJ Lawsuit to Block Alaska Senate Election Certification

司法部于周四向位于阿拉斯加的联邦地区法院正式提交诉状，除阿拉斯加州政府外，还将该州选举处处长卡罗尔·比彻、各选举委员会以及选票清点审查委员会列为被告。诉状指控，同名候选人丹尼尔·J·萨利文参选的唯一意图是通过分散现任参议员的选票来协助佩尔托拉阵营。诉讼提出具体要求：若丹·S·萨利文落败，且与获胜者的选票差距小于丹尼尔·J·萨利文的得票总数，联邦法官应下令禁止州政府认证该竞选结果，直至官方查明投给后者的选票是否本意属于现任参议员。

The Department of Justice filed its formal complaint on Thursday in the U.S. District Court in Alaska, naming as defendants the state of Alaska, Alaska Elections Division Director Carol Beecher, state election boards, and the state Ballot Counting Review Board. The federal suit alleges that Daniel J. Sullivan entered the contest with the sole purpose of benefiting Peltola by diverting votes away from Senator Dan S. Sullivan. Specifically, the department requested an order barring state officials from certifying the contest if the incumbent loses by a margin smaller than the total votes received by Daniel J. Sullivan, pending an inquiry into whether ballots cast for the namesake were intended for the incumbent.

在前往佛罗里达州迈尔斯堡参加政治集会期间，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普向随行媒体公开承认该诉讼由其直接推动，并称民主党推举另一名无政治经验的同名者分流选票是在操控选举。就在诉讼递交前数小时，特朗普在社交平台发文称只要有1%至3%的选票分流即可改变选举走向，并表态将寻求法律手段追究民主党责任。在诉讼提交前，司法部长托德·布兰奇曾在新闻发布会上声称司法部无意不当介入各州选举确认或认证程序，但随后司法部发言人证实，该部门正在依据联邦法规采取行动保护选举公平。

While traveling for a political rally in Fort Myers, Florida, President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday that he personally gave the directive to take legal action, asserting that Democrats had engineered the second candidacy to divide the Republican vote. Hours before the filing, Trump wrote on Truth Social that even a margin of 1 to 3 percent could decide the contest and promised powerful legal options against what he termed election interference. The public acknowledgement followed remarks from Attorney General Todd Blanche, who had told reporters earlier on Thursday that the Justice Department had no intention to improperly interfere with state certification processes.

现任共和党参议员丹·S·萨利文于2014年首次当选联邦参议员并在2020年连任，此前曾先后担任阿拉斯加州总检察长以及自然资源专员，正在寻求其第三个六年任期。与其同名的候选人丹尼尔·J·萨利文则来自阿拉斯加东南部彼得斯堡，是一名退休小学教师及前美国国家森林局雇员。丹尼尔·J·萨利文此前曾是阿拉斯加独立党成员，直到今年早些时候才重新登记为共和党人。尽管共和党阵营指责其参选是为了制造混淆，但他对此予以否认。

Incumbent Republican Senator Dan S. Sullivan, who was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2014 and re-elected in 2020 after serving as Alaska's attorney general and commissioner of natural resources, is seeking a third six-year term. His namesake on the ballot, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., is a retired elementary schoolteacher and former U.S. Forest Service employee from Petersburg in southeastern Alaska. Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. was previously a member of the Alaska Independence Party before registering as a Republican earlier this year; he has denied allegations from Republicans that he entered the contest specifically to confuse voters.

阿拉斯加州选举官员最初取消了丹尼尔·J·萨利文的参选资格，但该决定随后被州法院系统推翻。阿拉斯加州最高法院于今年6月作出最终裁定，认定其完全符合参选条件并准许保留在选票上。在最终印制的选票上，两人的标识存在明确区分：现任参议员被标注为“萨利文，丹·S（注册共和党人）现任”，而另一位候选人则被列为“萨利文，丹尼尔·J 二世”，且虽然其已登记为共和党，但在选票上并未附带任何政党标识。

Although state election officials initially disqualified Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., the state court system overturned that administrative determination. In June, the Alaska Supreme Court officially allowed him to remain on the ballot as a qualified candidate. On the printed ballots, the two contenders are differentiated by specific notations: the incumbent is listed as 'Sullivan, Dan S (Registered Republican) Incumbent,' while the other candidate appears as 'Sullivan, Daniel J Jr' without an attached party designation, despite having registered as a Republican.

阿拉斯加州在参议院普选中采用排序复选制。选民按偏好顺序对候选人进行排序，若首轮计票中无人获得超过50%的绝对多数选票，得票最少的候选人将被淘汰，其选票将依据后续排序转移给其他候选人，该过程持续进行直至剩下两名候选人并决出得票最多者。司法部在诉状中主张，丹尼尔·J·萨利文的存在可能导致意图击败佩尔托拉的共和党选民在排序时产生混乱，甚至可能在丹尼尔·J·萨利文前两轮被淘汰后，导致未列出丹·S·萨利文的选票最终流向佩尔托拉。

Alaska conducts its general election for the U.S. Senate through a ranked-choice voting system, in which voters rank candidates on the ballot in order of preference. If no contender secures more than 50 percent of the vote in the first round of tabulations, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their ballots are transferred to the voters' subsequent choices, repeating until two contenders remain and the candidate with the most votes wins. In its complaint, the Department of Justice argued that the namesake candidacy could confuse voters on how to rank the three Republican contenders, asserting that some might not rank the incumbent at all and inadvertently allow transferred votes to benefit Peltola following Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.'s elimination.

该席位的争夺对两党控制参议院具有决定性影响，目前共和党仅在参议院维持微弱多数席位。《库克政治报告》将阿拉斯加州参议院竞选列为全美七个胜负难分的胶着选区之一。选举追踪平台FiftyPlusOne的民调平均值显示，曾于2022年当选国会众议员的民主党候选人佩尔托拉仅领先现任参议员2个百分点；而在今年8月的初选中，佩尔托拉以49.5%的得票率位居第一，丹·S·萨利文得票率约为41%，丹尼尔·J·萨利文与杰拉德·海克斯也一同晋级普选。

The outcome of the contest carries decisive weight for control of the chamber, where Republicans currently hold a narrow majority. The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter rates the Alaska race as one of seven toss-up Senate contests nationwide, while the tracking site FiftyPlusOne shows Peltola holding an average polling lead of two percentage points. In the state's August primary, Peltola captured 49.5 percent of the vote compared with approximately 41 percent for Dan S. Sullivan, with Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. and Gerald Heikes also advancing to the November ballot.

针对这起联邦诉讼，两党竞选阵营迅速发表了立场对立的公开回应。现任参议员丹·S·萨利文的竞选发言人内特·亚当斯表示，团队将任由司法部的诉讼按程序进行，并坚称阿拉斯加选民完全能够分清民主党的把戏与萨利文扎实的政绩。佩尔托拉的竞选发言人哈利·柴尔德则予以猛烈回击，指责该诉讼是推翻选举结果的可鄙政治威胁，由萨利文的盟友一手策划以压制选民声音，原因正是萨利文害怕失去这一席位。

The conflicting campaigns exchanged sharp words over the federal complaint. Nate Adams, a campaign spokesman for Senator Dan S. Sullivan, stated that the campaign would let the Justice Department complaint run its course, asserting that voters in Alaska can easily distinguish between what he characterized as a Democratic sideshow and the incumbent's legislative track record. In contrast, Harry Child, a spokesman for Peltola's campaign, condemned the legal action as a despicable political threat intended to overturn election results, charging that Sullivan's political allies manufactured the effort to suppress local voices because the senator feared losing his seat.

多位法律学者与政治学者对司法部的诉讼逻辑提出质疑。圣母大学法学院教授德里克·穆勒指出，司法部指控未核实混淆选票将违反《全国选民登记法》中保护选举公正的职责，但该联邦法律并未对州政府课以该项义务。加州大学洛杉矶分校法学教授里克·哈森直言，若诉状由其学生撰写将会得到不及格评价，形容该案不仅胜诉希望渺茫，更是司法部的耻辱。此外，由于不记名投票制度的匿名特性，法律专家强调客观上根本无法在事后核实投给丹尼尔·J·萨利文的选民是否本意意在支持现任参议员。

Prominent legal scholars expressed deep skepticism regarding the statutory basis and practical viability of the federal filing. Notre Dame Law School professor Derek Muller noted that while the lawsuit claims Alaska would breach its responsibilities under the National Voter Registration Act by certifying Peltola without investigating voter confusion, the statute actually imposes no such duty on states. Rick Hasen, an election law professor at UCLA, called the complaint an embarrassment to the Department of Justice that would receive a failing grade if submitted by a law student, adding that it stands very little chance of succeeding. Experts also emphasized the fundamental logistical impossibility of ever determining individual voter intent after the fact, given the strict anonymity built into secret ballots.