Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has described his state's voting system as "very confusing" as the race for the U.S. Senate remains undecided days after Election Day. The contest between Democratic incumbent Mary Peltola and Republican challenger Dan Sullivan is currently separated by a razor-thin margin of 637 votes.
Peltola holds 48.17% of the vote, but with neither candidate reaching the 50% threshold required under Alaska's ranked-choice voting system, the outcome will likely not be determined until after the second and third choices are tallied. The final results are not expected for days, if not weeks, according to Dunleavy.
"It's very close, the numbers," Dunleavy told WABC Radio's "The Cats Roundtable" on Sunday. He noted that significant vote tallies are expected on Friday, November 13, and Wednesday, November 18. "It's a slow system up here in Alaska," he admitted, adding, "We've got quite an issue up here."
Adding to the confusion, the outcome of a ballot measure to repeal the state's ranked-choice voting system also remains too close to call, with "no" votes leading by a narrow margin of 51.85% a week after the polls closed.
Dunleavy also addressed allegations of a "Decoy Dan" scheme, where a candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan allegedly ran in the general election as a potential spoiler to siphon votes from the incumbent Republican, Dan Sullivan. The governor stated that an investigation into the candidate's legitimacy was initially conducted by the division of elections, which found it was not a legitimate candidacy. However, a court ruling, ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court, required the candidate to be placed on the ballot.
A New York Times report linking potential knowledge of the scheme to Peltola's campaign prompted Dunleavy to reopen the investigation into potential wrongdoing. "As a result of that, we began another investigation up here in Alaska, and the Department of Justice did the same, so you have this investigation going on right in the middle of an election," Dunleavy said.
The close Senate race and the ongoing investigations into electoral practices have cast a shadow over the election results in Alaska. The state's unique ranked-choice voting system, implemented just a few years ago, is now facing scrutiny amid the prolonged vote-counting process and allegations of electoral manipulation.