Alaska Division of Elections
Alaska's state election agency; runs the 18 November 2026 ranked-choice Senate tabulation.
The Alaska Division of Elections is counting an uncalled Senate race: on 4 November 2026 the Democrat, Mary Peltola, held a lead of under a point over Senator Dan S. Sullivan, and the division runs the ranked-choice tabulation on 18 November.
Last refreshed: 5 November 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Will ranked choices settle Alaska's Senate seat on 18 November?
Timeline for Alaska Division of Elections
Set the ranked-choice tabulation for 18 November
US Midterms 2026: Peltola leads Sullivan by 0.3 pointsHanded the voter list to DOJ
US Midterms 2026: Judge Zeman keeps Alaska voter-list suitNotified challenger Dan Sullivan of ineligibility on 12 June over voter-confusion concerns
US Midterms 2026: Alaska moves to strike a decoyMentioned in: Alaska blocks the second Dan Sullivan
US Midterms 2026Background
The Alaska Division of Elections administers statewide elections and maintains voter registration records across the state. It also runs the initiative, referendum and recall processes through which voters place questions before the electorate. The division operates under the lieutenant governor, with a director in charge of administration; Carol Beecher held that post in 2026.
Those duties combine voter registration, candidate eligibility and the Conduct of voting, so the division's decisions shape both who appears on a ballot and which records establish a voter's eligibility. It conducts statewide general elections by ranked-choice tabulation when no contender wins a majority of first choices.
Courts review its decisions. In 2026 the Alaska Supreme Court reversed its ballot disqualification of a namesake Senate Challenger, and a state judge kept alive a privacy suit over its transfer of voter data to the Justice Department.
The division will tabulate on 18 November
The division holds the decisive count in Alaska's 2026 Senate race. On an incomplete count neither leading contender had half the first choices, so ballots for the minor names pass to each voter's next choice. Spokesperson Steve Kirch told Alaska Public Media the division would publish counts on 10, 13 and 18 November, tabulate on 18 November, when the last absentee ballots are due, and certify by 25 November. A recount request must follow within five days of certification.
In June 2026 the division tried to change that ballot. On 12 June director Carol Beecher disqualified a Petersburg man named Dan Sullivan who had filed as a Republican against the senator of the same name. The Alaska Supreme Court reinstated him on 29 June.
Its voter-list handover faces a lawsuit
In 2025 the division gave the US Justice Department Alaska's full voter list, including driving-licence and partial Social Security numbers. Superior Court Judge Adolf Zeman declined on 16 October 2026 to throw out a lawsuit challenging the division's release, so the case moves to discovery on state constitutional privacy grounds.
In his ruling Zeman found the state had let the department send voter removals at will. Judge Zeman's ruling puts the division's 2025 release of registration data before a state court. A federal case touched the division's count as well: Judge Sharon Gleason threw out a Justice Department certification suit on 1 November.
The division faces a privacy challenge
What is at issue in Alaska’s voter-list privacy case?
Who directs the Alaska Division of Elections?
Reference
Does Alaska use ranked choice voting?
What does the Alaska Division of Elections do?
What happened after Alaska removed the second Dan Sullivan from the ballot?
Why did Alaska elections officials try to remove Dan Sullivan from the 2026 Senate ballot?
When will Alaska certify the 2026 Senate result?
Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Updated 5 November 2026. Editorial standards.