Trump Demands Alaska Votes Be Reassigned as States Certify Midterms

As of Nov. 11, 2026

President Donald Trump on Tuesday called Alaska’s still-uncalled U.S. Senate race a “Rigged Election” and said the roughly 3,650 votes cast for a candidate who shares the incumbent’s name “should immediately be given to the Real Dan Sullivan.” The request has no counterpart in Alaska law, and state election officials have announced no change to a count that is scheduled to run for another two weeks.

The post came a day after Trump questioned whether the midterm election was “honest” at all, and as election offices entered the certification phase — the formal step that turns unofficial tallies into binding results. Wyoming’s canvassing board certified its results unanimously on Tuesday; Mississippi counties face a Friday deadline; Alaska’s target is Nov. 25, after a ranked-choice tabulation set for Nov. 18.

The stakes are narrower than the rhetoric suggests: Democrats have already won both chambers, and the two uncalled Senate races — Alaska and Mississippi — will not change which party runs the Senate in January.

The facts: what Trump said, and when

In a Truth Social post on Monday, Nov. 9, the president wrote: “Does anybody really believe that this ‘Election’ was honest. How could the Polls be so wrong??? Some early voting ‘dumps’ were so large that it was impossible to win, no matter how many people went to vote. It’s all about the machines, which are far more important than the voter!” Asked later whether he believed the election was rigged, he told reporters, “I think the numbers were terrible in terms of those early votes” (USA TODAY).

On Tuesday he turned to Alaska: “Dan Sullivan PLUS Dan Sullivan wins the Alaska Election by thousands of votes. All votes going to the Fake Dan Sullivan, which was done solely for the purpose of fraud and confusion, should immediately be given to the Real Dan Sullivan (Senator!) — Likewise the votes of the second fraudulent candidate, also put up by the Dems. There should be no question concerning this Rigged Election. Time is of the essence!!!” (Forbes)

He also said of the race, “They stole it,” and argued it “should be called right now, because Dan Sullivan won easily if you add up the numbers.” The shift is a reversal: on election night he told The New York Times he was “absolutely willing” to accept the result, and on “60 Minutes” on Nov. 8 he cited the war with Iran and gasoline prices as reasons Republicans lost.

The facts: where the Alaska count stands

Democrat Mary Peltola led Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan by about 2,500 votes as of Tuesday afternoon, with an estimated 76% counted, according to The Associated Press. The state’s Monday update put Peltola at 48.6% of more than 215,000 ballots counted, a first-choice lead of 2,517 votes (Anchorage Daily News).

The candidate Trump calls the “Fake Dan Sullivan” is Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher from Petersburg who ran as a Republican and drew 1.7% of the vote — 3,651 ballots as of Monday. A fourth candidate, Republican Gerald Heikes, had roughly 4,865 votes.

The Brief Lens explained earlier this month why the race could not be called on election night: Alaska accepts mailed ballots postmarked by Election Day through Nov. 13 and overseas ballots through Nov. 18.

The facts: why Alaska has no way to “give” votes to a candidate

Alaska conducts general elections by ranked-choice voting. Under AS 15.15.350, each ballot counts first for its highest-ranked continuing candidate. If no one clears 50%, the last-place candidate is eliminated and those ballots move to “each ballot’s next-highest-ranked continuing candidate” — or become inactive if the voter ranked no one else.

Votes therefore move only where a voter drew an arrow. Nothing in the statute lets the state, a governor or a president transfer one candidate’s ballots to another, and the Division of Elections has not proposed doing so.

An analysis by the Alaska Beacon of the state’s cast-vote record shows how the ranking behaves. Of 3,426 ballots then recorded for Daniel J. Sullivan, 991 would transfer to Peltola, 560 to Sen. Sullivan, 627 to Heikes and 608 would be exhausted. The Beacon found “little, if any, voter confusion” between the names — and that Sen. Sullivan, not Peltola, stands to gain most from the eliminations.

The facts: the legal fights around the count

Two lawsuits are live, and neither asks a court to hand votes to a candidate.

The Justice Department sued in late October to block certification of a Peltola win if ballots cast for Daniel J. Sullivan could have changed the outcome. A federal judge dismissed the case on Nov. 1 (NPR); the government has appealed to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where briefing is not expected before Jan. 11 — after certification and after new senators are seated.

Separately, Peltola’s campaign sued for daily lists of rejected absentee ballots and the reasons for rejection. At a hearing Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews said he would rule within a day. State attorneys called the reports confidential working documents that expose voters’ home addresses; Peltola’s lawyer said the review “is going incredibly smoothly” and that the campaign seeks records, not disruption (AP). Sen. Sullivan’s campaign moved to intervene.

The facts: certification is moving elsewhere

Roughly a dozen races remain uncalled a week after Election Day. Democrats are on track for 54 Senate seats and 255 House seats, their largest House majority since 2008. Beyond Alaska, the calendar is crowded: Mississippi counties certify by Friday and the state on Dec. 3, with no automatic or candidate-requested recounts; North Carolina’s county canvass is Friday and the state certifies Nov. 24; California counties certify Dec. 3 and the state Dec. 11; a recount continues in South Carolina’s 2nd District; and two races sit near 300 votes in Minnesota and Tennessee (AP). Wyoming’s board certified after finding no candidate had requested a recount.

Mississippi’s timetable is tightest: counties report certified results, including provisional tallies, by Friday, a process The Brief Lens detailed here. Minnesota began county certification on Nov. 10 and canvasses statewide Nov. 19.

The federal pressure has not been confined to Alaska. On Nov. 6, U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead barred the Justice Department from pressing Washington state to set aside the ballots of about 400 voters on a federal list, writing that a prosecution threat made to ensure “these ballots aren’t counted” is “not legal advice” (Politico). Washington’s Democratic secretary of state said the list included U.S. citizens.

Analysis: what a demand like this can and cannot do

It cannot move ballots. Election law specialists told Forbes there is no presidential authority over counts. “They’re not going to succeed because the federal government does not get to decide who votes, or how or whether those votes are counted,” said Jonathan Diaz of the Campaign Legal Center. Former Election Assistance Commission chairman Ben Hovland said federal intervention in a count “would be illegal in nearly every scenario” (Forbes).

It also misstates the arithmetic. Even a full transfer of Daniel J. Sullivan’s ballots would not be a clean addition: under ranked-choice rules those ballots split among three candidates and some exhaust, which is why the Beacon’s modeling showed Sen. Sullivan gaining several hundred votes, not 3,651.

It can still cost time and confidence. Certification is ministerial in most states but depends on local boards, and litigation consumes both: Alaska is defending a federal appeal while fighting a state records suit. Officials in the states Democrats won — many of them Republicans — have reported no systemic problems with machines or early voting; the errors that surfaced are the ordinary kind audits are built to catch, such as a North Idaho recount after 2,342 ballots went unreported.

Politically, the practical effect is limited. Democrats hold the Senate majority regardless, as The Brief Lens reported after the wave, and no losing Republican has moved to contest a result. The more durable consequence may be the argument itself: Alaskans appear to be keeping the ranked-choice system Trump criticized. Repeal Measure 2 trailed 52% to 48% through Monday, the “no” side ahead by roughly 9,500 votes (Alaska Public Media).

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called the posts a “pathetic return to election denialism.” The White House has not withdrawn the claim, and the Division of Elections has not responded publicly to the demand to reassign ballots.

What to watch

• Nov. 11: Judge Matthews’s written ruling on access to rejected-absentee records.
• Nov. 13: Mississippi’s county certification deadline and North Carolina’s county canvass.
• Nov. 18: Alaska’s overseas-ballot deadline and the ranked-choice tabulation, which will decide whether Peltola’s first-choice lead survives transfers.
• Nov. 25: Alaska’s target certification date; Mississippi certifies Dec. 3.
• Jan. 11: Earliest expected briefing in the federal appeal, well after the new Congress is sworn in.

This article separates reported facts from analysis. Vote totals are unofficial until certification.

Sources

• Associated Press, “More than a dozen key races remain too early to call one week after Election Day”, Nov. 10, 2026.
• Associated Press, “Judge weighs lawsuit brought by Peltola campaign over absentee ballots in Alaska’s US Senate race”, Nov. 10, 2026.
• USA TODAY, “Trump questions midterm election results after previously accepting outcome”, Nov. 10, 2026.
• Forbes, “Trump Claims Still-Uncalled Alaska Senate Race Is ‘Rigged’”, Nov. 10, 2026; “Trump Starts Sowing Doubt In Midterms Results”, Nov. 9, 2026.
• Anchorage Daily News, “Sen. Sullivan campaign seeks to join Alaska court battle over absentee ballot data”, Nov. 9, 2026.
• Alaska Beacon, “Ranked choice voting may help Republican US Sen. Dan Sullivan, analysis finds”, Nov. 4, 2026.
• FactCheck.org, “Explaining the Case of the Two Dan Sullivans on Alaska’s Ballot”, Oct. 30, 2026.
• Alaska Statutes § 15.15.350, general procedure for ballot count (ranked-choice tabulation).
• NPR, “Judge tosses DOJ Alaska lawsuit over U.S. Senate race”, Nov. 1, 2026.
• Politico, “Federal judge orders Justice Department to stop threatening election officials in Washington state”, Nov. 5, 2026.
• Wyoming Public Media, “Wyoming certifies the general election as officials look to boost turnout”, Nov. 10, 2026.
• Alaska Public Media, “Peltola, Kreiss-Tomkins increase leads in Monday results update”, Nov. 9, 2026.