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Alaska says Justice Department request to set aside Senate ballots is impossible

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 7 outlets across the spectrum.

8 articles in total. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias

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The Justice Department has sued to block certification of the Alaska Senate race. In a filing it asked a federal judge to set aside ballots showing votes for the second Dan Sullivan, identified in coverage as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., until it can be determined whether voters were misled. Alaska’s attorneys told the court the request is impossible without violating voter privacy and called it meritless, and Alaska officials asked the judge to dismiss the lawsuit. Sen. Dan Sullivan told CNN he will accept the election results whether or not he wins against Democrat Mary Peltola, in a race decided on Tuesday.

Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. How this works

What happened

Key points

Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.

  1. The Justice Department has sued to block certification of the Alaska Senate race.

    Reported byLeft1Center1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    NBC News
    Center
    The Hill

  2. The Justice Department asked a judge to separate all ballots showing votes for the second Dan Sullivan until it can be determined whether voters were fooled.

    Reported byLeft1Center1Right2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The Independent
    Center
    PBS NewsHour
    Right
    New York Post, Washington Examiner

  3. Alaska’s attorneys said the request is impossible without violating voter privacy and called it meritless.

    Reported byLeft2Center1Right2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The Independent, NBC News
    Center
    PBS NewsHour
    Right
    New York Post, Washington Examiner

  4. Alaska officials asked a federal judge to permanently dismiss the lawsuit.

    One outletNBC News· Left

  5. Sen. Dan Sullivan said he will accept the Alaska Senate election results whether or not he wins against Mary Peltola.

    Reported byCenter1Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Center
    The Hill
    Right
    Washington Examiner

  6. An allegation reported in the coverage says Peltola’s campaign recruited candidates named Dan Sullivan to confuse voters.

    One outletWashington Examiner· Right

What is contested

Where accounts differ

Questions the coverage answers differently, and who says what.

  • Can the ballots showing votes for Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. be set aside without violating voter privacy?

    Alaska’s attorneys say it is impossible without violating voter privacy and call the request meritless. The Justice Department asked the judge to separate those ballots until it can be determined whether voters were fooled.

How each side tells it

Compare views

Every side reports that Alaska’s attorneys call the Justice Department’s request to set aside Senate ballots impossible. The main difference is emphasis: the left headline centers the Trump administration’s demand, while center and right headlines lead with Alaska’s filing or Sullivan’s pledge to accept results.

  • the left

    3 outlets

    The one left-side headline, from NBC News, frames the matter as the Trump administration’s impossible demand, with Alaska officials asking a judge to reject it; The Independent, carrying the same AP report, also leads with Alaska’s meritless charge.

    Alaska officials ask judge to deny Trump administration’s ‘impossible’ demand to set aside Senate ballots
    NBC NewsLeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    2 outlets

    Headlines split: PBS, carrying an AP report, leads with Alaska’s attorneys calling the Trump demand meritless, while The Hill leads with Sullivan saying he will accept the results.

    Sullivan: 'I’m going to accept the election results'
    The HillCenterAll center headlines

  • the right

    2 outlets

    New York Post, carrying an AP report, leads with Trump’s ask to set aside ballots as not even possible, while the Washington Examiner’s own headline leads with Sullivan vowing to accept results.

    Sen. Dan Sullivan vows to accept Alaska election results if defeated
    Washington ExaminerRightAll right-leaning headlines

The words they chose

Language to notice

Words that carry a judgement beyond the facts. Tap a highlighted word anywhere on the page to see why.

  • Left1

    implored

  • Center0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

  • Right1

    Decoy Dan

In the outlets’ own words

  • Loaded modifier

    Decoy DanMore neutral: the second Dan Sullivan

    The nickname labels the namesake candidate a decoy, which presumes the purpose that the lawsuit disputes.

    Trump ask to set aside ‘Decoy Dan’ Alaska Senate ballots ‘not even possible’: attorneys

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Loaded verb

    imploredMore neutral: asked

    The verb presents a routine court filing as an emotional plea, where asked or urged describes the same act neutrally.

    The Republican-led state government in Alaska implored a federal judge on Saturday to permanently dismiss the Trump administration’s lawsuit…

    Used byNBC News (Left)

See the full language guide

See for yourself

Side by side

What each side leads with and what it leaves out. Open a side to read its headlines.

From the left

3 outlets

Leads with

  • Trump administration’s demand
  • Alaska officials’ request to dismiss
  • impossible
See the 3 headlines from the leftHide the headlines
  • The GuardianLeft

    Republican senator Dan Sullivan says he will accept Alaska election results

    Senator was allegedly targeted in ballot-stacking ploy by his Democratic opponent to peel away votes from him Senator Dan Sullivan, the Alaska Republican allegedly targeted in a ballot-stacking ploy by his Democratic opponent, Mary Peltola, told CNN this morning that he would …

    Read at The Guardian (opens in a new tab)
  • NBC NewsLeft

    Alaska officials ask judge to deny Trump administration’s ‘impossible’ demand to set aside Senate ballots

    The Republican-led state government in Alaska implored a federal judge on Saturday to permanently dismiss the Trump administration’s lawsuit that seeks to block the certification of the Alaska Senate race if GOP Sen.

    Read at NBC News (opens in a new tab)
  • The IndependentLeftAssociated Press report

    Alaska attorneys say 'meritless' Trump demand to set aside Senate ballots is 'disturbing and impossible'

    The Independent published a report that is shown in full at PBS NewsHour. The headline is the one The Independent gave it.

    Read at The Independent (opens in a new tab)

From the center

2 outlets

Leads with

  • Alaska attorneys’ response
  • Sullivan’s pledge to accept results
  • Justice Department lawsuit
See the 2 headlines from the centerHide the headlines
  • The HillCenter

    Sullivan: 'I’m going to accept the election results'

    Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) said he would accept the election results of the upcoming 2026 elections, even if he lost, following a Justice Department (DOJ) lawsuit attempting to invalidate election results if his opponent, former Rep. Mary Peltola (D-Alaska), won. …

    Read at The Hill (opens in a new tab)
  • PBS NewsHourCenterAssociated Press report

    Attorneys for Alaska say 'meritless' Trump demand to set aside Senate ballots 'not even possible'

    The Department of Justice on Friday added a request that the judge separate all ballots showing votes for the second Dan Sullivan until it can be determined whether voters were fooled into wasting their votes for a spoiler candidate.

    Read at PBS NewsHour (opens in a new tab)

    Also published by The Independent and Washington Examiner. It counts once.

From the right

2 outlets

Leads with

  • Sullivan’s pledge to accept results
  • Alaska calls the request impossible
  • Peltola spoiler allegation
See the 3 headlines from the rightHide the headlines

The stories you read build My Mix, a private picture of which sides cover the stories you choose, kept on this device. What is My Mix?

The left is Far Left and Left together. The right is Right and Far Right together. Every outlet keeps its own five-point rating.

Who reported it when

How the coverage built up

  • Left

    4 hr 38 min later

    Its first report, Oct 31, 10:00 PM EDT

  • Center

    1 hr later

    Its first report, Oct 31, 6:22 PM EDT

  • Right

    First to report

    New York Post, Oct 31, 5:22 PM EDT

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. New York PostRightOct 31, 5:22 PM EDT
  2. PBS NewsHourCenterOct 31, 6:22 PM EDT
  3. Washington ExaminerRightOct 31, 6:55 PM EDT
  4. NBC NewsLeftOct 31, 10:00 PM EDT
  5. The IndependentLeftNov 1, 9:57 AM EST
  6. The HillCenterNov 1, 10:36 AM EST
  7. The GuardianLeftNov 1, 10:39 AM EST

Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out.

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