Alaska judge denies Peltola campaign's request for absentee ballot data

An Alaska judge ruled against a request from Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mary Peltola's campaign for a list of absentee voters whose ballots were rejected, calling the request "not reasonable," according to The Times-Tribune.

The ruling comes as ballots continue to be tallied in Alaska's ranked-choice Senate election, where Peltola and Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan are the main contenders, and the race remains too close to call, reported the Associated Press.

The state allows ballots from overseas voters up to 15 days after the general election, with Nov. 18 as the final receipt date and the target for completing ranked vote tabulations if no candidate has a majority of first-choice votes.

Peltola's campaign had sued state election officials seeking the rejected absentee ballot list and reasons for rejection, aiming to ensure all qualified votes are counted, but state attorneys argued that releasing the information would violate voter privacy.

The campaign's attorney said they did not intend to disrupt the counting process and noted absentee ballot reviews are proceeding smoothly, while also asserting the information sought is public record and accessible to campaign observers at review board meetings.

Absentee review boards meet at regional election offices where parties can observe the process, but the judge's ruling means the campaign will not receive a centralized list of rejected absentee ballots at this time.