Alaska Ballot Scandal Raises Questions About Election Integrity

0:00 Speaker 1 Sunday morning. Well, two days, three days before the election, most important election in a long time. We have with us Governor David Patterson, and he speaks his mind in the city, state, country, the world. What’s on your mind this Sunday morning, three days before the election?

0:19 Speaker 2 Well, John, I was a little upset about something last week, and this week I’m a little bit upset about something else, and it has to do with what’s going on in Alaska.

0:27 Speaker 3 Now, the governor of Alaska... has.

0:32 Speaker 2 Opened an investigation mike dunleavy he’s been the governor’s there since 2018 and the investigation is into the actions of the democratic party who apparently went out and found people that had the same name as the sitting united states senator dan smith uh what is his last name his name is dan sullivan sullivan And they went around recruiting

0:55 to find out other people whose names might be Dan Sullivan. They found a guy who worked in a clothing store by that name and apparently manipulated the process so they could put him on the ballot. Now, there’s no clear evidence that that kind of conduct is illegal. But just because it’s not illegal doesn’t mean that it isn’t incendiary

1:16 because it would destroy the whole electoral process if instead of campaigning to the voters about who would govern better, they’re campaigning to people, to find people with names to confuse.

1:28 Speaker 3 The voters, what I call the politics of confusion.

1:32 Speaker 2 And now President Trump has called on the Justice Department to open an investigation, which apparently they have by now. and also other leaders have as well. And the interesting thing about this, John, is that the New York Times, not always known for doing this kind of investigative journalism, has really drilled into the Democratic Party here and I

1:57 think totally impeded their chances.

1:59 Speaker 3 And it was the right thing to do.

2:02 Speaker 1 Everybody was surprised that the New York Times did it because they support Democrats, you know, all the time.

2:11 Speaker 2 Well, it’s good to know that all the news that’s fit to print, you know, that in this case, they really worked very hard. And I don’t see how the Democratic leaders can deny that this actually happened.

2:25 Speaker 3 They have the names of people who went out and recruited people.

2:28 Speaker 1 Well, I’m glad they did, you know. Well, tell us, what do you think the punishment should be if they’ve intentionally did that?

2:40 Speaker 3 Well, you see, that’s the problem, John, is that it’s one of.

2:43 Speaker 2 Those eerie things that you do, but on the books there aren’t really criminal penalties for it. I think that the shame that the Democratic Party, and I’m a Democrat, but the shame that the Democratic Party would bear for this type of conduct should be enough to make Dan S.

3:03 Speaker 3 Smith.

3:04 Speaker 2 reelected as senator as opposed to the other person who put his name on the ballot as well. In other words, what are the ramifications for this? This might be something that would probably ignite some legislation, not only in Alaska, but all around the country to try to stop this from happening.

3:28 Speaker 1 Understood. Well, what else would you like to talk to? I mean, three days, this is a national election. This has national implications.

3:38 Speaker 2 It’s sooner than that. Today’s Sunday. Tomorrow’s Monday. The second day from today, people will be going out to vote. And I think that there will be probably some gains made by the Democratic Party. I think the Democratic Party will win back the House of Representatives.

3:57 Speaker 3 I think it’s 50-50 on the Senate.

4:00 Speaker 2 And I also think that, you know, some of the candidates are really turning up the wheels.

4:12 Speaker 3 Right now to try to win this race.

4:13 Speaker 2 This is probably going to be one of the most famous elections in the history of America. You know, not unlike 1964, Goldwater Johnson and some of the Nixon races and that kind of thing and Ronald Reagan’s victories. I think this Tuesday is going to become one of the famous days in electioneering in the United States. And the

4:35 greatest thing about it is because it’s a free country, we can hold it.

4:39 Speaker 1 Understood. Well, David Patterson, let’s, you know, we have an election night on Tuesday night. So if you’re around, stop by and we’ll all laugh together or cry together or whatever.

4:55 Speaker 3 I’ll be happy to, John. Maybe I’ll stay right here until Tuesday night. Sounds good.