2026年10月25日 美国东部时间下午1点38分 / CBS新闻
华盛顿消息——司法部长托德·布兰奇周日表示，司法部此举旨在“设置保障措施”，以防丹·沙利文同名候选人导致选民混淆、从而阻止阿拉斯加州参议院选举结果获得认证。
“这是司法部依据法律开展的自身调查，”布兰奇在《玛格丽特·布伦南主持的面向全国》节目中表示。
上周，司法部提起诉讼，要求提前阻止阿拉斯加州参议院选举结果的认证——前提是共和党现任参议员丹·沙利文败选。即将在下周举行的选举中，沙利文将与民主党候选人玛丽·佩尔托拉展开角逐。在2024年总统大选以两位数优势获胜的阿拉斯加州，本次竞选的激烈程度超出了最初预期。该州实行前四名初选和排序复选制选举制度，另一名候选人的加入也让竞选局势更为复杂。
与现任参议员同名的前教师丹尼尔·J·沙利文在今年6月宣布参选，促使现任参议员推动将其从选票上除名。当月，阿拉斯加州一名选举官员认定丹尼尔·沙利文不符合参选资格，理由是其“存在明确努力和刻意企图”误导阿拉斯加选民。但这名挑战者对该决定提出上诉，州最高法院随后裁定他可参与竞选，使得两位沙利文的名字同时出现在选票上。
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布兰奇周日强调，司法部提起的诉讼“并非说‘不要认证选举结果’”。但若法院认定选举结果是“因选民混淆而非选民真实意愿产生”，那么司法部认为该州不应认证此次选举。
司法部长辩称，从选举结果和选票来看，“选民可能已经明显感到困惑”，不过他也坦言“我们尚不确定后续会发生什么”。
“这种困惑可能从选民对两位丹·沙利文的排序方式中显现，也可能体现为选票上未标注某一位丹·沙利文，不过我目前无法确定，毕竟选举尚未举行，”布兰奇表示。“但我们所做的一切只是设置保障措施，以便一旦出现此类情况，能通过保存选票的机制来判定是否存在混淆。”
当被问及为何在选举日11天前提起诉讼时，布兰奇表示，政府原本希望州最高法院“能够出具一份意见书并解释裁决理由”。他称这是总统数月来一直在讨论的问题，“这不是上周才冒出来的新情况”。
上周五被问及司法部的诉讼时，特朗普总统对记者表示：“嗯，是我下令‘这么做的’。”布兰奇回应称“完全不清楚”总统指的是谁，且不愿讨论他与总统的私人通讯。
周日同样出席《面向全国》节目的北卡罗来纳州共和党参议员汤姆·蒂利斯表示，他认为审查阿拉斯加州的情况是恰当的。
“我不确定他们为何觉得必须提起诉讼，除了像托德之前说的那样，确保选票准确无误，这样我们才能确认民主党并未通过混淆候选人的方式误导选民，为佩尔托拉的胜选创造有利条件，”蒂利斯说道。
这些表态发表之际，阿拉斯加州另一名共和党参议员丽莎·穆尔科斯基上周五表示，她反对司法部的此举。
“阿拉斯加人选自己支持的候选人不需要任何外力协助，而且阿拉斯加州已经通过在今年选票上清晰区分候选人解决了这个问题，”穆尔科斯基在X平台的帖子中写道。“司法部本就不该提起这起诉讼。”
现任参议员的名字将在选票上标注为“（登记共和党籍）现任议员”。
被问及穆尔科斯基的表态时，蒂利斯表示：“几乎没有人比丽莎更了解阿拉斯加州的情况。”
蒂利斯称他不反对“审查此事”，但“我反感的是，在我们连支撑诉讼的事实是否真的存在都还没弄清楚的情况下，就急匆匆提起诉讼”。
与此同时，佩尔托拉的竞选团队称司法部的举动是“推翻选举的卑劣政治威胁”。
“我们将竭尽全力确保阿拉斯加每一位符合条件的选民都能表达自己的意愿，确保美国本土48州的官僚或政客不会干预我们合法、安全的选举，”佩尔托拉竞选团队发言人哈里·查尔德表示。
AG Todd Blanche says DOJ is “doing our own research under the law” with Alaska Senate challenge
October 25, 2026 / 1:38 PM EDT / CBS News
Washington — Attorney General Todd Blanche said Sunday that the Justice Department was looking to “put guardrails in place” with its move to prevent the Alaska Senate election from being certified if there is evidence that voters were confused by a second Dan Sullivan on the ballot.
“This is the Department of Justice doing our own research under the law,” Blanche said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.
The Justice Department filed a lawsuit last week to preemptively challenge the certification of Alaska’s Senate race if the Republican incumbent, Sen. Dan Sullivan, loses. Sullivan is facing off against Democratic candidate Mary Peltola in next week’s election, in a race that has appeared closer than initially expected in a state that President Trump won in 2024 by double digits. But the state has a top-four primary and ranked-choice voting election system, with another candidate adding a wrinkle to the race.
Daniel J. Sullivan, a former teacher who shares the same first and last name with the sitting senator, announced in June that he was entering the race, prompting a push by the incumbent senator to remove him from the ballot. That month, an Alaska election official determined he was not eligible to appear on the ballot, citing a “determined effort and a deliberate attempt” to confuse Alaska voters. But the challenger appealed the decision, and the state Supreme Court later affirmed that he could appear on the ballot, paving the way for both Sullivans’ names to appear.
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Blanche emphasized Sunday that the DOJ’s lawsuit is “not saying, ‘don’t certify.’” But if a court determined that the race was decided “because of confusion, and not the will of the voters,” then the Justice Department does not think the state should certify the election.
The attorney general argued that it may “be obvious from the results and from the ballots that voters were confused,” though he acknowledged that “we don’t know what’s going to happen yet.”
“That could be obvious from the way that they rank the Dan Sullivans, or not including a Dan Sullivan on the ballot, I don’t know yet because there hasn’t been an election,” Blanche said. “But all we are doing is trying to put guardrails in place so that if that happens, there’s a system allowed where the ballots are kept in a way so that we can determine whether there was confusion.”
Pressed on why the challenge was filed 11 days before Election Day, Blanche said the administration had hoped that the state Supreme Court “would actually issue an opinion and explain their reasoning.” He said that it’s an issue the president has been talking about for months, saying, “This isn’t something new that just came up last week.”
Asked Friday about the Justice Department’s lawsuit, Mr. Trump told reporters, “Well, I’m the one that said, ‘do it.’” Blanche said he had “no idea” to whom the president was referring, and would not discuss his own personal communications with the president.
Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a Republican who also appeared on “Face the Nation on Sunday, said he thinks it’s appropriate “to take a look at” the situation in Alaska.
“I’m not sure why they thought they had to file a lawsuit, other than as Todd said earlier, make sure that you have the ballots right so we can be certain that the Democrats were not successful in confusing candidates to vote for someone else to better position Peltola for being the winner,” Tillis said.
The comments came after GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Alaska’s other senator, on Friday said she was opposed to the Justice Department’s move.
“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,” Murkowski wrote in a post on X. “The Department of Justice should never have filed this lawsuit.”
The sitting senator’s name will be noted as “(Registered Republican) Incumbent” on the ballot.
Asked about Murkowski’s comments, Tillis said, “there are very few people that know Alaska better than Lisa.”
Tillis said he doesn’t mind “looking at it,” but “I do mind the appearance of filing a lawsuit before we even know if the facts that would substantiate a lawsuit actually occur.”
The Peltola campaign, meanwhile, has called the DOJ’s move “a despicable political threat to overturn an election.”
“We will fight to ensure every single eligible voter in Alaska can make their voice heard and that no bureaucrat or politician from the Lower 48 can interfere with our lawful, secure elections,” said Peltola campaign spokesperson Harry Child.