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Alaska judge denies Peltola campaign request for list of rejected absentee ballots

What’s new: Peltola’s lead over Sullivan narrowed to 3,975 votes in a Wednesday update, with about 86 percent of votes counted.

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 13 outlets across the spectrum.

15 articles in total, 1 of them opinion. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias

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On Wednesday, Nov. 11, Alaska Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews denied a request by Democratic Senate nominee Mary Peltola’s campaign for a list of rejected absentee ballots and the reasons for the rejections. Matthews wrote that the request was “not reasonable” because the state Division of Elections is busy processing ballots from the 2026 general election and lacks the capacity to generate the report. The campaign had sued Alaska to obtain the records. As of Thursday, according to the Associated Press, Peltola led Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan by 3,975 votes, 121,487 to 117,512, as the count continued. The race has not been called.

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

What happened

Key points

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

  1. Alaska Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews denied the Peltola campaign’s request for a list of rejected absentee ballots and the reasons for the rejections.

    Across the spectrumReported byFar Left1Left2Center3Right2Far Right4See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    HuffPost
    Left
    The Washington Post, The Independent
    Center
    PBS NewsHour, NewsNation, The Hill
    Right
    Washington Examiner, The Washington Times
    Far Right
    The Daily Caller, The Daily Signal, Fox News, Just the News

  2. Judge Matthews wrote that the request was not reasonable because the Division of Elections is processing ballots and lacks the capacity to generate the report.

    Reported byCenter1Right1Far Right3See the outletsHide the outlets
    Center
    The Hill
    Right
    The Washington Times
    Far Right
    The Daily Caller, The Daily Signal, Just the News

  3. The Peltola campaign sued Alaska to obtain access to the records on rejected absentee ballots.

    One side only: the rightReported byFar Right2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Right
    The Daily Caller, The Daily Signal

  4. As of Thursday, according to the Associated Press, Peltola led Sullivan 121,487 votes to 117,512.

    One outletThe Daily Signal· Far Right

  5. The Associated Press has not called the race, which is the only uncalled U.S. Senate race.

    Reported byLeft1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The Independent
    Far Right
    The Daily Signal

How each side tells it

Compare views

Every side reports that an Alaska judge denied Peltola’s request for rejected absentee ballot records and that the race is uncalled. Right-side headlines mostly pair the ruling with the narrowing vote lead, while left and center headlines focus on the ruling itself.

  • the left

    3 outlets

    Left-side headlines state the ruling plainly, often quoting the judge’s “not reasonable” wording, and the Independent frames it as a court loss for Peltola.

    Alaska judge rules against Peltola request for Senate race ballot data
    The Washington PostLeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    3 outlets

    Center headlines state the denial flatly, with NewsNation and The Hill using the same neutral wording and PBS quoting the judge’s “not reasonable” phrase.

    Alaska judge denies Peltola campaign request for list of rejected absentee ballots
    NewsNationCenterAll center headlines

  • the right

    7 outlets · 1 opinion

    Right-side headlines pair the ruling with the vote count, stressing Peltola’s narrowing lead, and the Daily Caller adds a “last-ditch” framing of the campaign’s request.

    Democratic Senate candidate Peltola loses suit over absentee ballot records, lead narrows
    Just the NewsFar RightAll 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.

  • Left0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

  • Center0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

  • Right2

    election dramaLast-Ditch Attempt

In the outlets’ own words

  • Sensational language

    election dramaMore neutral: election count

    The phrase presents a routine vote count as dramatic rather than describing it plainly.

    The Alaska election drama isn't over yet, not by a long shot.

    Used byRedState (Far Right)

  • Loaded modifier

    Last-Ditch AttemptMore neutral: request

    The label presents the campaign’s records request as desperate before the court’s reasoning is weighed.

    Judge Denies Democrat’s Last-Ditch Attempt At Rejected Ballot Counting As Vote-Tallying Concludes

    Used byThe Daily Caller (Far Right)

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

  • the judge’s ruling against Peltola
  • the “not reasonable” wording
  • the race still uncalled
See the 3 headlines from the leftHide the headlines

From the center

3 outlets

Leads with

  • the denial itself
  • the judge’s reasoning
  • the tight Senate race
See the 3 headlines from the centerHide the headlines

From the right

7 outlets · 1 opinion

Leads with

  • Peltola’s narrowing lead
  • the campaign’s court loss
  • the judge’s timing reasoning
See the 8 headlines from the rightHide the headlines
  • The Daily CallerFar Right

    Judge Denies Democrat’s Loaded modifier“Last-Ditch Attempt”The label presents the campaign’s records request as desperate before the court’s reasoning is weighed.More neutral: requestDisagree with this highlight? At Rejected Ballot Counting As Vote-Tallying Concludes

    ‘It is simply not reasonable nor required’

    Read at The Daily Caller (opens in a new tab)
  • The Daily SignalFar Right

    Peltola Holds Narrow Lead but Loses Court Bid for Rejected Absentee Ballot Data

    An Alaska judge rejected Democrat Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s bid for records on rejected absentee ballots. Peltola currently holds a slim lead over Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan in the last uncalled Senate race. …

    Read at The Daily Signal (opens in a new tab)
  • The Epoch TimesFar Right

    Peltola’s Lead Shrinks as Alaska Processes More Votes

    Sen. Dan S. Sullivan gained ground on the Democrat in the latest vote total.

    Read at The Epoch Times (opens in a new tab)
    1 more from The Epoch Times
  • Fox NewsFar Right

    Peltola campaign loses in court on rejected absentee ballots as she maintains narrow lead

    Democratic Senate nominee Mary Peltola lost her court bid for ballot records and saw her narrow Alaska lead over Dan Sullivan shrink Wednesday.

    Read at Fox News (opens in a new tab)
  • Washington ExaminerRight

    Judge rules Peltola request for ballot data in Alaska Senate race ‘not reasonable’

    An Alaska judge on Wednesday denied Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s attempt to force election officials to hand over data for rejected absentee ballots cast in her race against Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK). …

    Read at Washington Examiner (opens in a new tab)
  • The Washington TimesRightAssociated Press report

    Alaska judge rules request by Peltola campaign for ballot data in Senate race 'not reasonable'

    A judge in Alaska ruled Wednesday that a request by Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mary Peltola's campaign for a list of absentee voters whose ballots have been rejected is "not reasonable," particularly given the time crunch election officials face as the state continues …

    Read at The Washington Times (opens in a new tab)
  • Just the NewsFar Right

    Democratic Senate candidate Peltola loses suit over absentee ballot records, lead narrows

    Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews said the agency "simply lacks the capacity to generate the report" from the voter registration database, and the request is "not reasonable nor required" immediately.

    Read at Just the News (opens in a new tab)
  • RedStateFar RightOpinion

    Peltola Loses Court Fight Over Absentee Ballot Records As Her Alaska Senate Lead Narrows

    The Alaska Sensational language“election drama”The phrase presents a routine vote count as dramatic rather than describing it plainly.More neutral: election countDisagree with this highlight? isn't over yet, not by a long shot. While it's looking increasingly like our at-large Republican Rep. Nick Begich III (AK-At Large) will keep his seat, the Senate race is still far from decided and will almost certainly go into at least one more round …

    Read at RedState (opens in a new tab)

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

    10 hr later

    Its first report, Nov 12, 5:02 AM EST

  • Center

    3 hr 55 min later

    Its first report, Nov 11, 10:57 PM EST

  • Right

    First to report

    The Washington Times, Nov 11, 7:02 PM EST

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. The Washington TimesRightNov 11, 7:02 PM EST
  2. Washington ExaminerRightNov 11, 9:31 PM EST
  3. The HillCenterNov 11, 10:57 PM EST
  4. NewsNationCenterNov 12, 4:14 AM EST
  5. The IndependentLeftNov 12, 5:02 AM EST
  6. HuffPostFar LeftNov 12, 5:24 AM EST
  7. Fox NewsFar RightNov 12, 7:19 AM EST
  8. The Epoch TimesFar RightNov 12, 8:20 AM EST
  9. The Washington PostLeftNov 12, 12:15 PM EST
  10. The Daily SignalFar RightNov 12, 12:21 PM EST
  11. The Daily CallerFar RightNov 12, 3:21 PM EST
  12. PBS NewsHourCenterNov 12, 3:24 PM EST

Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out. Just the News gave only a date, so it is not placed.

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