Judge Calls Mary Peltola Request Unreasonable
A judge called Mary Peltola’s ballot-records request unreasonable; she retains a narrow lead.
November 12, 2026 · Updated Nov 12, 8:20am ET
HuffPost'Not Reasonable': Alaska Judge Rejects Peltola Campaign Request For Absentee Ballot Data
NewsweekAlaska judge rules against Mary Peltola over ballot request
Just the NewsAlaska Democratic Senate candidate Peltola loses suit over absentee ballot records, lead narrows
NewsNationAlaska judge denies Peltola campaign request for list of rejected absentee ballots
FOX NewsPeltola campaign loses in court on rejected absentee ballots as she maintains narrow lead
NBC NewsAlaska judge rules a request by Peltola campaign for ballot data in Senate race is ‘not reasonable’
Washington ExaminerJudge denies Peltola request for ballot data in Alaska Senate race
Epoch TimesJudge Denies Alaska Democratic US Senate Candidate’s Request for Ballot Data
13%
Left · 1
37%
Center · 3
50%
Right · 4
Pano counted 8 articles from 8 outlets: 13% left-leaning, 37% center and 50% right-leaning. Pano rates the coverage Balanced.
What happened
- Alaska Judge Thomas Matthews rejected Democrat Mary Peltola’s request for rejected absentee ballot records as “not reasonable” while she maintains a narrow lead in the Senate race.
- Matthews said election officials lack the capacity to produce the requested report while counting ballots, and confidential information would need to be removed.
- Peltola’s campaign said it wanted to ensure eligible votes were counted and was not seeking confidential data or trying to disrupt the count.
- Peltola’s lead over Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan narrowed after Wednesday night’s ballot update, but Alaska’s Senate race remains uncalled.
- Alaska will accept overseas ballots through Nov. 18, when officials also aim to conduct ranked-choice counting if no candidate wins a majority of first-choice votes.
How the left told it
Left-leaning outlets were represented only by HuffPost, which emphasized the judge’s finding that the request was “not reasonable” amid election officials’ counting workload. Its AP report also included the campaign’s stated goal of ensuring qualified voters’ ballots counted and state attorneys’ concerns about voter privacy.
How the right told it
Right-leaning outlets emphasized Peltola’s court defeat and the burden her request would place on election officials. Fox News and Just the News paired the ruling with her narrowing lead; the Washington Examiner highlighted counting deadlines, while The Epoch Times detailed the judge’s findings about confidential records.
Alaska Senate Race
Part of the storyline · Storyline →- Nov 14Alaska Keeps Ranked VotingBalanced
- Nov 12Judge Calls Mary Peltola Request Unreasonable (this story)Balanced
- Nov 11Mary Peltola Denied Ballot DataBalanced
- Nov 7Mary Peltola Sues Alaska For RecordsBalanced
- Nov 5Donald Trump Demands Alaska Vote TransferLeans Right
