Photo via Fox News

Dunleavy calls Alaska voting system ‘very confusing’ as razor-thin Senate race frozen in time

Read the original at Fox News ↗
Cite

Mack, E. (2026, November 8). Dunleavy calls Alaska voting system ‘very confusing’ as razor-thin Senate race frozen in time. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dunleavy-calls-alaska-voting-system-very-confusing-razor-thin-senate-race-frozen-time

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Fox News · collected 2026-11-08 · by Eric Mack

Quick Summary

Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy described his state's voting system as "very confusing" due to the close Senate race between Democratic nominee Mary Peltola and Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan. With only 637 votes separating them, key dates for additional vote tallies are Nov. 13 and Nov. 18. The uncertainty is compounded by ongoing investigations into possible voting scheme violations and a "Decoy Dan" candidacy plot aimed at misleading voters to benefit Peltola's campaign.
Written by AI on 2026-11-08, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

As of November 8, 2026, Republican Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy described his state's voting system as "very confusing," citing the closely contested Senate race between Democratic nominee Mary Peltola and incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan. With Election Day on November 3, Peltola currently leads by just 637 votes with 48.17% support, but no new vote tallies have been released in days due to Alaska's ranked-choice voting system. Key dates for releasing more ballots are set for Friday, November 13, and Wednesday, November 18. Dunleavy acknowledged that "we've got quite an issue up here" with the slow process, noting it could take weeks to determine a winner.

Written for “Alaska Voting System Confusion” on 2026-11-09, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

Alaska Voting System Confusion
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 12% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Independent
Hedges 4 of 16 claims Outlet record 59/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of the same election situation but describe distinct events with different dates and speakers.”
Al Jazeera
Hedges 5 of 40 claims Outlet record 60/100
“Article A discusses undecided US Senate races generally, while Article B focuses specifically on Alaska's governor commenting on the confusion and timing of their voting system for a close Senate race.”
CBS News
Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 68/100
“While both articles discuss the close Senate race in Alaska, ARTICLE B focuses on Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy's comments about the voting system being confusing and the slow process of determining the winner, which is a different specific incident from the initial vote count reported in ARTICLE A.”
Washington Examiner
Leans left Hedges 5 of 20 claims Outlet record 68/100
“Article A discusses both Alaska and Mississippi Senate races while Article B focuses specifically on the Alaska race's voting system confusion.”
CBS News
Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 68/100
“While both articles discuss the ongoing uncertainty of the Alaska Senate race between Dan Sullivan and Mary Peltola, they describe different points in time with distinct information and sources.”
Toronto Star
Hedges 8 of 76 claims Outlet record 64/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of the election process; Article A covers preliminary results and context, while Article B focuses on the governor's comments about the confusion in vote counting for a specific Senate race.”
Reason
Leans left Hedges 5 of 38 claims Outlet record 67/100
“The articles discuss the same Senate race but different aspects of it; Article A focuses on vote counts as of November 6th, while Article B reports comments made by Governor Dunleavy regarding the voting system and future ballot dumps on specific dates.”
Al Jazeera
Hedges 0 of 9 claims Outlet record 60/100
“While both articles discuss the undecided race between Dan Sullivan and Mary Peltola for Alaska's Senate seat, Article A is a broader update on undecided races in the midterms while Article B focuses specifically on Governor Dunleavy's comments about the voting system confusion.”
CBS News
Hedges 4 of 14 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The articles discuss the same ongoing Senate race but describe different points in time and details of the process.”
Washington Examiner
Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The articles discuss different moments and aspects of the Senate race; Article A is about the initial vote count on November 5, while Article B covers Governor Dunleavy's comments three days later on November 8.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
17
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
12%
2 of 17 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
67/100
Fox News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-08 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Fox News · 6953 article(s) · 14 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 14 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Eric Mack
31 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
Republican Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy admits his own state's voting system is "very confusing," and warned that the close race between Democratic Senate nominee Mary Peltola and incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan will not be determined for days, if not weeks.
"Madam first lady, I would like to thank you: You did an amazing job," he said.
It will take years to fully rebuild.
The Trump administration argues that allowing illegal voting and halting investigative work could lead to prosecution for those involved.
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that U.S. aid to Israel would end at the close of the year, arguing that the country no longer needs the assistance and can purchase its own weapons. "We were giving them $4 billion – we are – but it gets cut off at the end of the year," Trump told "Fox & Friends" on Tuesday morning in an Election Day morning announcement.
"The Court is therefore unpersuaded by the plaintiffs' assertion that a person who is simply 'project[ing a] command[ing] presence, scan[ning] crowds, and more" – without any outward indications of law enforcement authority – would generate objectively reasonable fear in a voter," according to Walton, who was nominated to the Washington, D.C., court by former President George W. Bush.
The DOJ argues the limited injunction would preserve the ballots while their eligibility is investigated, without canceling any votes.
Rogers welcomed the early November surprise with just two days to go before Tuesday's Election Day in a race that could flip the Democrat Senate seat red and help President Donald Trump's party keep control of the upper chamber.
Murphy, who is not running in the midterms but has been stumping for Democrats, began feeling numbness in his arm Saturday afternoon while at his son’s hockey game and was taken to a local hospital before being transferred to Johns Hopkins for further monitoring, according to Allison Herwitt. "He is awake and alert, and we are optimistic he will make a full recovery," Herwitt said, adding that Murphy is responding well to treatment and doctors are encouraged by his progress.
A disturbance in the crowd may have preceded the shooting, police said.
Also by Eric Mack
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 31 articles by Eric Mack →

Topics

Alaska Democratic New York Times Republican the Division of Elections

Subjects

Dunleavy PERSON · 6× Alaska GPE · 5× Republican NORP · 3× the Division of Elections ORG · 3× New York Times ORG · 2× Peltola PERSON · 2× Democratic NORP · 1× Mary Peltola PERSON · 1× Mike Dunleavy PERSON · 1× Senate ORG · 1×

Narrative

"It's very close, the numbers," Dunleavy told WABC Radio's "The Cats Roundtable" on Sunday, noting key dates for ballot dumps will be Friday, Nov. 13, and Wednesday, Nov. 18, when "another big batch of votes will come in." "It's a slow system up here in Alaska," he admitted, acknowledging that "we've got quite an issue up here."
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-08
Republican Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy admits his own state's voting system is "very confusing," and warned that the close race between Democratic Senate nominee Mary Peltola and incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan will not be determined for days, if not weeks.

Claims (17 extracted, 2 hedged)

Republican Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy admits his own state's voting system is "very confusing," and warned that the close race between Democratic Senate nominee Mary Peltola and incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan will not be determined for days, if not weeks. asserted
race → admit → days
"It's very close, the numbers," Dunleavy told WABC Radio's "The Cats Roundtable" on Sunday, noting key dates for ballot dumps will be Friday, Nov. 13, and Wednesday, Nov. 18, when "another big batch of votes will come in." "It's a slow system up here in Alaska," he admitted, acknowledging that "we've got quite an issue up here." asserted
we → tell → issue
"A big batch of votes will come and that'll really determine, you know, who's going to have the lead." Peltola, currently with 48.17% support, leads by just 637 votes in Alaska's ranked-choice voting system that has not dropped any new vote tallies for days. asserted
that → come → days
Election Day was Tuesday, Nov. 3, and if no candidate gets 50% support as the No. 1 choice by Nov. 25, the results go to rounds of ranked-choice candidates on the second and third choices. asserted
results → get → choices
"It is very confusing," Dunleavy said. asserted
Dunleavy → say → ?
"That was also on the ballot, to actually repeal that voting scheme that was put in place here just a couple years ago, and so it's confusing, 100%. asserted
it → repeal → place
"No" votes against repealing ranked-choice voting lead very narrowly at 51.85%. asserted
votes → repeal → %
That decision also remains too close to call a week after the polls closed. asserted
polls → remain → ?
"We're still in the process of bringing in votes and counting votes," Dunleavy said. asserted
Dunleavy → bring → votes
"And we are in the midst of investigations as to determine if there was any wrongdoing, especially anything that might resemble perjury or, you know, a misrepresentation of individual's intent on how they wanted their candidacy to be placed on the ballot." uncertain
candidacy → determine → ballot
Dunleavy denounced what he called the "Decoy Dan" scheme that had Daniel J. Sullivan on the ballot in an alleged plot to siphon votes from the Republican incumbent. asserted
that → denounce → incumbent
The governor claimed the other Sullivan even allegedly tried to get on the general election ballot as Daniel S. Sullivan, using the middle initial of the incumbent instead of his own. uncertain
Sullivan → claim → incumbent
"That kind of opened our eyes and we began an investigation back there, the Division of Elections did, to determine if this was a legitimate candidacy, and the Division of Elections at that time found that was not and did not put him on the ballot," Dunleavy said. asserted
Dunleavy → open → ballot
"Then there was a court case and the Supreme Court in the end ruled against the Division of Elections in Alaska, and they must go on the ballot." asserted
they → be → ballot
After a New York Times report tied potential knowledge of the "Decoy Dan" scheme on behalf of Peltola's campaign, Dunleavy reopened the investigation of wrongdoing. asserted
Dunleavy → tie → wrongdoing
"When The New York Times article came out, you know, we already knew a lot of what was happening there, but there was more revelations of that article," he said. asserted
he → come → article
"As a result of that, we began another investigation up here in Alaska, and the Department of Justice did the same, so you have this investigation going on right in the middle of an election." asserted
investigation → begin → election
Give feedback · no sign-in needed

No sign-in needed for now. Your note is sent without a name, so it cannot be answered.

History Support