Two different candidates on your ballot, and you have to choose. Easy, unless both are called Dan Sullivan. In Alaska, that is exactly the situation.
Here is why the same name on the ballot ended up in court, and why the secret ballot stopped the plan.
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In Alaska, a senator named Dan Sullivan is running again. But there's a second man on the ballot. His name? Again, Dan Sullivan. Different person, same name.
On the ballot, the two appear as Dan S. Sullivan and Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.
Some people worried voters would mix them up. Donald Trump also weighed in, telling reporters: “I think it's illegal because it's unfair.” And: “They come up with a guy who never partook in any election, was never involved.”
So the government had an idea:
Sounds simple. But there's one big problem.
Votes are secret. Nobody is supposed to know who voted for whom.
A judge threw the case out. She said the government had “no workable plan” to do this and keep the vote secret. And many ballots were already cast and mixed together.
Secret ballots matter, whether it's the US Senate or the board election in your club. Once a vote can be traced back to a person, people no longer vote freely.
How the secret ballot is protected in online voting is explained in our section on security and data protection in online voting.
What do you think: should two people with the same name be on one ballot?
Senator Dan Sullivan is running again, and a second, different man with the same name is also on the ballot.
Every ballot with a vote for the second Dan Sullivan was to be found, put on a separate pile and investigated.
She said there was no workable plan to do this and keep the vote secret. Many ballots were also already cast and mixed together.
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