Polls close in Alaska as ranked-choice vote counting begins in key U.S. Senate race

(The Center Square) – Polls are now closed across Alaska and the time-consuming process of determining the winner is under way.

Alaska allows four candidates to advance to the general election, and voters are asked to rank each of the candidates through its ranked choice voting process. 

The race between incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, Democratic candidate Mary Peltola two others has been embroiled in controversy over allegations the Peltola campaign planted a spoiler candidate in the race with Sullivan’s name. Dan J. Sullivan, a school teacher, and Gerald Heikes also are on the ballot.

Early returns showed Peltola with 35,324 votes and Sen. Sullivan at 27,940. Other candidates had fewer than 2,000 votes.

The U.S. Department of Justice and the state of Alaska are investigating the allegations against the Peltola campaign, with the DOJ sending letters on Tuesday to people suspected of recruiting the second Sullivan to confuse voters at the polls.

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As for the ranked choice voting process, if none of the four candidates are the choice of a majority of voters after the first round of counting, the candidate with the least top votes is thrown out and counting is continued using those voters' second choice. The process continues until one candidate is the top selection of a majority.

Aside from the ballot controversy, Sullivan and Peltola disagree on key issues of taxation and federal benefits for Alaskans. Peltola pushed for abolishing income taxes on Alaskans making less than $92,000 per year and expanding the child tax credit.

Sen. Sullivan has supported legislation that would inform families of tax credit opportunities but did not endorse an expansion of the credit.

Peltola held the support of 47.0% of voters over Sen. Sullivan's 44.8%, according to an average of four most recent polls compiled by 270toWin. The polls also projected spoiler candidate Daniel J. Sullivan would earn 3.5% of the vote in an average of four polls.