Trump Says Alaska Ballot Is Confusing, Criticizes Murkowski and Ranked-Choice Voting

President Donald Trump said Sunday he is worried Alaska voters will be confused by the ranked-choice ballot in the Nov. 3 election, where two candidates named Daniel Sullivan will appear. Incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan will be listed as the incumbent and a registered Republican; the challenger will be listed as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. Trump told reporters the challenger's placement is illegal because it is unfair, and asked that the senator be allowed to use his name and title instead of the word incumbent, saying many people do not know what it means. On Friday, Trump announced that the Justice Department is pursuing a legal challenge to Alaska's certification of election results at his direction, arguing voter confusion may affect the outcome. In a Saturday night post, he called Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, the Republicans' worst senator and a disgrace to Alaska. He said she was elected only because of ranked-choice voting and opposes the DOJ lawsuit, and he called the ballot a Democratic scam meant to confuse voters.

Among right-leaning outlets, the Washington Examiner leads with Sunday's remarks on ballot confusion and the incumbent label, adding background on the DOJ action and Trump's comments that the challenger never took part in elections and may not have voted. Just the News leads with Trump's Saturday post calling Murkowski the party's worst senator, quoting his claims about funding for Alaska and his statement that Democrats are trying to steal the seat. It also identifies the challenger as a Democrat. Both report the same core facts. They differ in emphasis: ballot mechanics and fairness at the Examiner, Murkowski and partisan accusations at Just the News. Left-leaning outlets had not reported this story at the time of writing, while alternative and right-leaning outlets had. NewsNation, an alternative outlet, similarly focuses on the Murkowski criticism and ranked-choice voting.