The campaign of Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mary Peltola filed a lawsuit Friday against Alaska election officials, seeking access to records identifying voters whose absentee ballots have been rejected or questioned as the state continues counting votes in its closely contested Senate race.

The lawsuit, filed by Alaskans for Mary, argues that the Alaska Division of Elections improperly denied requests for records showing which absentee ballots were rejected and the reasons for those decisions. The campaign contends that access to the information would allow it to identify eligible voters whose ballots may not have been counted and help address problems before the election is certified.

"Plaintiff cannot ensure that its voters' lawful votes were properly counted without knowing whose absentee ballots were rejected or questioned, and why," the lawsuit states. It also argues that each day without access to the records reduces the campaign's opportunity to help qualified voters ensure their ballots are counted.

Alaska election officials rejected the campaign's request, saying the information is preliminary and that state law does not require the Division of Elections to release it as requested. Officials warned that releasing the records before affected voters are notified could create additional work for election administrators and slow the counting process. The state has also maintained that it has historically treated the information as confidential.

Peltola, a former congresswoman and the first Alaska Native elected to Congress, currently leads Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan by approximately 600 votes. The race has not been called, and ballots from remote communities and overseas voters are still part of the counting process. Alaska allows certain ballots mailed from outside the United States to arrive as late as 15 days after Election Day, provided they were postmarked by the required deadline.

Election officials have scheduled additional results updates for November 10, with final vote totals due by November 18. The state's ranked-choice voting system could also affect the outcome. If no candidate receives more than 50% of first-choice votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and ballots are redistributed according to voters' next available preferences until someone secures a majority.

The lawsuit adds another legal dispute to an election that has already drawn attention from the Trump administration. The Justice Department previously sued in an effort to prevent Alaska from certifying the results if Sullivan lost, arguing that an unaffiliated candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. on the ballot could have confused voters. A federal judge dismissed that lawsuit before Election Day, although the administration has pursued an appeal.

Peltola previously won Alaska's at-large congressional seat in 2022 under the state's ranked-choice voting system, defeating Republican Sarah Palin. She subsequently won a full term that November but lost her reelection campaign in 2024. Sullivan first won his Senate seat in 2014 by defeating Democratic incumbent Mark Begich and is now seeking a third term.

The Alaska contest is one of the final unresolved Senate races following the November 3 midterm elections. Its outcome will help determine the size of the Democratic majority in the Senate. Another closely watched contest remains unresolved in Mississippi, where Democrat Scott Colom leads Republican incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith as officials continue counting ballots.