Dan J. Sullivan Wins 1 of 4 Alaska Senate Spots, Threatening GOP Incumbent

Q: How will ballot designers visually distinguish two identical names to prevent voter confusion in November?

Alaska election officials are expected to distinguish the two identical names by using fuller name formats and added ballot identifiers, rather than leaving both simply as “Dan Sullivan.” The clearest model comes from how the state handled the primary after the court fight. The challenger appeared as “Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.” while the incumbent was listed as “Dan S. Sullivan” and marked as the incumbent. Court filings and sample-ballot proposals also showed officials considering middle initials, suffixes such as “Jr.,” and party labels to make the difference more obvious. One proposal discussed in court would have listed the challenger as “Sullivan, Daniel James Jr.” and the incumbent as “Sullivan, Dan … Incumbent,” with party information also shown. Another sample ballot released by the Division of Elections used “Sullivan, Daniel J. Jr.” for the challenger and “Sullivan, Dan S. … Incumbent” for the senator. So the practical answer is that ballot designers will likely rely on visual distinctions already tested in the primary: the incumbent’s middle initial, the challenger’s full first name and suffix, and possibly an incumbent label and party designation if allowed under Alaska ballot rules. The exact final wording for November had not been fully confirmed in the reporting, but election officials and courts have made clear that some combination of those tools is the intended way to reduce confusion.

3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Aug 26

Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher, clinched one of four November ballot spots in Alaska’s Senate race after winning a few thousand primary votes and waiting about a week for the result to become clear.
His advance creates a problem for Republican Senator Dan S. Sullivan because voters could confuse the two names, siphoning votes in a race Democrats and Republicans both expect to be close.
Mary Peltola, the well-funded Democratic challenger, and Senator Sullivan had already secured general-election berths, with Sullivan trailing Peltola by nearly 6 percentage points in the nonpartisan primary.
Alaska’s ranked-choice system could blunt some confusion if voters rank both Sullivans ahead of Peltola, but the effect remains uncertain; another Republican, Gerald L. Heikes, could also still make the ballot.