American spoilers: Dan Sullivan vs. Dan Sullivan ⠀.
There is a little over a week left until the mid-term elections in the United States. The Ministry of Justice, which according to the American tradition is supposed to stay away from politics, plunged headlong into the election struggle.
⠀ The most impressive story takes place in Alaska. Incumbent Republican Senator Dan S. Sullivan is a close tie with Democrat Mary Flatola. And on the same note another candidate: Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired teacher from the fishing village of Petersburg. Non-partisan self-candidate. That makes a Democratic woman and two Dan Sullivans.
⠀ The Department of Justice calls Sullivan II a spoiler whose goal is to prevent the Republican from winning. Judging by the fact that Sullivan's spoiler flag became the same as the Republican's, they're right. If the senator loses by less than his name, the Justice Department requires that the result not be certified until they find out if voters confused the Sullivans. Moreover, the lawsuit does not say how exactly they will find out. The vote is secret; You can't ask every voter what he meant. As a matter of fact, the Department of Justice suggests that anyone who voted in his name was simply wrong.
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Why the situation is exactly this can be seen from the surveys. In one of the last ones, Platola had 47%, the senator 44% and his name 4%. Give 4% to the senator and he will have 48% to Flatula's 47%. A loser becomes a winner. This is exactly the case described in the lawsuit. It seems that the Justice Department lawyers looked at the numbers first and then sat down to write. Trump admitted: "I ordered it." And Democrat Flatula called the lawsuit "corrupt" and "desperate." ⠀ Classics of the genre: technical candidate-spoiler, administrative resource. ⠀.
I think if the Republican wins, they will forget about the lawsuit, because it is only necessary in case of defeat. But if Flatola wins by a small margin, a long struggle will begin: courts, recounts, tests of the "true will of the voters." The Senate seat could remain in contention for weeks.