阿拉斯加州长下令调查佩尔托拉阵营涉嫌招募同名候选人案Alaska Governor Orders Investigation into Alleged Democratic Ballot Plot

在媒体披露相关报道后，阿拉斯加州共和党籍州长迈克·邓利维在社交平台上宣布，正式要求该州公共安全部介入审查。邓利维表示，媒体报道展示了通过招募候选人蓄意误导选民并分流选票的有力证据，州执法机关必须据此查明该运作是否触犯阿拉斯加州现行法律，并确认是否应当依法提出刑事指控或追究民事责任。他强调，当地选民享有投给本意支持者的基本权利，证据将决定后续司法处理方向。

Following media revelations concerning candidate recruitment, Alaska Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy announced on social media that he directed the state Department of Public Safety to intervene. Dunleavy stated that the news report revealed disturbing evidence of an organized effort to manipulate the state's elections by recruiting candidates to intentionally confuse voters and misdirect their ballots. He tasked law enforcement officials with establishing whether this alleged scheme violated Alaska laws and determining whether criminal charges or civil actions are legally justified, emphasizing that the gathered evidence will dictate subsequent legal actions.

邓利维在官方声明中将该调查同既往行政审查联系起来，指出阿拉斯加州选举事务处早在今年6月便就类似疑虑开展过调查，而最新的报道内容对选举事务处当时的审查结论提供了实质支持。尽管州长在指示中未直接点名佩尔托拉竞选团队，但他强调任何被证实违法的个人或组织都必须承担法律责任，州府的行动旨在核实是否存在操纵选票及刻意误导选民的行为。

Dunleavy linked the directive to previous regulatory efforts, noting that the Alaska Division of Elections had examined identical voter deception concerns in June and that the reporting substantially corroborated those initial administrative findings. While the governor's statement avoided naming Mary Peltola's campaign directly, he underscored that Alaskans maintain a fundamental right to vote for their intended candidate without deliberate deception. Dunleavy stated that any individual or organization determined to have breached the law must be held fully accountable.

据《纽约时报》披露，这场涉嫌招募同名候选人的行动始于2025年。报道援引相关采访记录与通讯信息指出，一名佩尔托拉的助手当时接到寻找名叫丹·萨利文的阿拉斯加居民的要求，随后佩尔托拉的顾问及民主党参议院竞选委员会官员共同讨论了重塑选票名单的途径。民主党活动人士杰里德·库尔茨被指担任招募联络人，曾以化名接触潜在人选。报道还提到，另一位民主党人经库尔茨接洽后退选，为空出选票席位的共和党人杰拉尔德·海克斯让路，海克斯亦表示自己曾受到鼓励参选。佩尔托拉的前竞选经理埃莉萨·里奥斯向该报透露，佩尔托拉知晓相关运作但并未直接参与。

According to an investigation by The New York Times, the reported effort began in 2025 when an aide to Mary Peltola was asked to identify Alaska residents named Dan Sullivan. Citing interviews and messages, the reporting revealed that advisers to Peltola alongside officials from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee discussed ways to reshape the ballot structure. Democratic operative Jerid Kurtz was identified as a recruiter who contacted prospective candidates, occasionally using an assumed name. The report also indicated that another Democrat withdrew from the race following contact from Kurtz, clearing space on the ballot for Republican Gerald Heikes, who stated that he had also received encouragement to enter the race. Elisa Rios, who previously served as Peltola's campaign manager, told the newspaper that Peltola was aware of the operation despite not participating directly.

针对选票分流操作，《纽约时报》指出，招募候选人以分流对手选票的做法被称为选票堆叠，通常属于合法范畴，阿拉斯加州两党此前均曾使用过类似策略。多位法律与竞选专家在接受媒体采访时表示，媒体报道中提及的招募搅局候选人行为表面上未触犯现行法律。然而，这种策略在竞争激烈的关键选举中引发了关于选民认知和竞选道德的争议。

Examining the electoral context, The New York Times noted that fielding contenders to draw votes from an opponent—a tactic known as ballot stacking—is generally legal and has historical precedents with both political parties in Alaska. Legal and campaign experts interviewed across coverage noted that the reported recruitment of a spoiler candidate does not appear to violate existing statutory law. Nonetheless, the disclosure of the alleged coordination has sparked intense scrutiny over whether the practice compromises voter clarity in a pivotal Senate contest.

在索尔多特纳的竞选活动中，佩尔托拉公开将媒体报道斥为一种干扰项。根据阿拉斯加公共媒体的报道，佩尔托拉表示没有普通选民会在早晨醒来时忧虑选票的具体构成，她本人当前最为关注的是个人账单负担以及医疗保健的可负担性问题。佩尔托拉竞选团队及其法律代表坚决否认曾参与招募该同名候选人参选，坚称竞选团队从未鼓励第二位萨利文加入这场竞争，相关违规指控毫无事实根据。

Speaking at a campaign event in Soldotna, Mary Peltola dismissed the reporting as an unwelcome distraction, stating, according to Alaska Public Media, that ordinary citizens do not wake up concerned about ballot composition. Peltola remarked that her focus remains firmly centered on household expenses and the affordability of healthcare. Officials from Peltola's campaign team firmly denied any wrongdoing or role in getting the duplicate candidate on the ballot, asserting that they never encouraged the second Dan Sullivan to enter the race and rejecting accusations of improper conduct.

民主党参议院竞选委员会同样公开发表声明，全面否认卷入任何招募同名候选人的既定计划。与此同时，现居偏远渔村的退休教师丹尼尔·J·萨利文在接受媒体有限的采访时明确表示，自己与佩尔托拉竞选团队没有任何联系。该候选人坚称自己是出于诚意以温和派共和党人身份独立决定参选，尽管他承认自己在过去的选举中曾给佩尔托拉投过票，但他强调自己决定参与这场参议院席位角逐并未受到任何民主党组织的幕后操纵。

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee similarly issued a formal denial, refuting allegations that it coordinated or participated in any scheme to field a duplicate candidate. Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher living in a remote fishing village, also maintained that he has no ties to Peltola's campaign team. In interviews with reporters, the second Sullivan insisted that he launched his candidacy in good faith as a moderate Republican. Although he acknowledged casting ballots for Peltola in previous contests, he maintained that his bid for the Senate was an independent decision.

针对《纽约时报》披露的指控内容，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在社交平台“真实社交”上多次发文，并将涉案行为定性为最高级别的选举欺诈。特朗普对媒体公开表示，佩尔托拉和另一位同名候选人丹尼尔·J·萨利文都应该面临刑事起诉，并敦促取消佩尔托拉的参选资格。特朗普声称民主党人制造了虚假候选人并在宣誓状态下撒谎，指责民主党阵营实施了欺诈行为，认为佩尔托拉在策划此类恶劣方案后不应被允许继续参选。

In response to the revelations, US President Donald Trump published multiple posts on Truth Social branding the alleged scheme as election fraud of the highest level. Trump told reporters that Mary Peltola alongside the duplicate candidate Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. should face criminal prosecution, insisting that Peltola ought to be barred from running in the Senate contest entirely. Trump asserted that Democrats had created fake contenders and lied under oath, claiming that Peltola should not be permitted to contest the election after orchestrating what he characterized as a fraudulent ballot effort.

与此同时，阿拉斯加州国会共和党代表团表达了严厉抨击。现任参议员丹·萨利文在接受福克斯新闻采访时要求佩尔托拉彻底坦白事实，并将这起涉嫌选票操控的指控定性为极其严重的丑闻。他的共和党同僚、阿拉斯加州联邦参议员丽莎·穆尔科斯基也对民主党竞选团队提出指责，称其展现出一种连环谎言的模式。共和党方面认为，这一系列举措的实质目的就是通过混淆选民视线来削弱现任议员的选票优势。

Concurrently, members of Alaska's Republican congressional delegation voiced sharp condemnations. Incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan told Fox News that Peltola must come clean regarding the operation, describing the alleged maneuver as a scandal of the highest order. Fellow Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski joined the criticism, publicly accusing the Democratic campaign of engaging in a pattern of lies. Republicans maintained that the maneuver represented a concerted effort to manipulate election outcomes by creating voter confusion.

在阿拉斯加州实行的排序复选制规则下，选民需在今年早些时候通过无党派初选胜出的四位候选人中按偏好进行排序，若首选候选人被淘汰，其选票将转计给选民的后续选项。正式选票上的表述区分了两位同名参选人：现任参议员标注为丹·S·萨利文（Dan S Sullivan），并载明其现任共和党参议员身份；同名候选人则登记为丹尼尔·J·萨利文（Daniel J Sullivan Jr.）。在此次争议爆发前，阿拉斯加州最高法院已经驳回了共和党人要求将该退休教师从选票上除名的司法申请，确保其参选资格在法律上得以保留。

Under Alaska's ranked-choice voting system, voters designate their preferences among the four contenders who advanced from an earlier nonpartisan primary, with votes redistributed to lower preferences if a voter's first choice faces elimination. The official ballot format distinguishes between the two individuals bearing the same name: the incumbent is designated as Dan S Sullivan with explicit text denoting him as the sitting Republican senator, while the retired teacher appears as Daniel J Sullivan Jr. Legal attempts by Republicans to strike the duplicate candidate from the ballot were already reviewed and formally rejected by the Alaska Supreme Court, keeping his name on the final ballot.

分析人士指出，这场定于11月3日举行投票的选举被视为全美竞争最激烈的选战之一，直接关乎国会参议院的控制权归属。随着全美各州选民即将在周二前往投票站，微弱的票数差距便可能重塑国会格局。排序复选制与两位同名候选人的并存使得选民投票分布更趋复杂，这一席位的最终结果不仅对阿拉斯加州本地政治意义重大，也成为两党争夺国会上议院微弱优势的核心焦点所在。

Analysts consider the Alaska contest one of the tightest races in the midterm elections, where the outcome will directly decide which political party controls the upper chamber of the United States Congress. With Americans across the country scheduled to cast their ballots on Tuesday, November 3, minor shifts in candidate support carry high legislative stakes. The ranked-choice mechanics alongside the presence of duplicate names on the ballot add unique operational complexity to a vote whose final tallies could define the legislative balance of power in Washington.