The legacy media has been tying itself in knots over the explosive Alaska ballot scandal that has rocked a key Senate race ahead of Tuesday's election.

The New York Times published a bombshell report alleging that Democratic operatives recruited a man named Dan Sullivan to run as a spoiler candidate against incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska, in hopes of aiding his Democratic opponent, former Rep. Mary Peltola.

CNN anchor Dana Bash went viral shortly after the Times broke its story when she reacted, "So, this is not illegal. It is not new."

BARI WEISS FACED 'SIGNIFICANT RESISTANCE' FROM CBS NEWS STAFFERS ABOUT ALASKA BALLOT SCANDAL, INSIDERS SAY

"I use the term dirty tricks intentionally because it’s not illegal," Bash said.

"This is something that is untoward. It is something that Democrats have tried to do in races where they think it could be to their advantage to run candidates that could siphon votes away from Republicans, and Republicans do the same," Bash continued. "I mean, just in Alaska alone, Mary Peltola, who’s now on the ballot for the Senate, she lost her House race two years ago. On that ballot, there was a candidate who was literally in prison who was reportedly recruited and kept on the ballot at the behest of Republicans."

The CNN host reiterated, "These are dirty tricks. They are legal, dirty tricks."

Some outlets relied on the "Republicans pounce" trope, adjusting the framing of stories that reflect poorly on Democrats to focus on the reaction of Republicans.

"Trump, Murkowski hammer Peltola over Alaska ballot-stacking report," Politico's headline read Wednesday.

The Associated Press similarly ran Wednesday, "Trump calls for prosecution of Democratic Alaska Senate candidate over spoiler candidate controversy."

"Republicans launch investigations into Peltola campaign," The Washington Post's Thursday headline stated.

"Republicans are using it as fodder," MS NOW anchor Peter Alexander told viewers Thursday. "The Justice Department, which already preemptively sued to try to block the certification of that Senate race if the Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses, they're pouncing."

Honest Elections Project executive director Jason Snead isn’t surprised some in the media are bending over backwards to keep a Democrat from looking scandalous.

"This is a classic thing that we've been seeing with a lot of mainstream outlets, this idea that they're going to be more concerned about the Republican reaction to something seedy that the left is doing rather than the seedy thing itself, right? It's a very classic situation," Snead told Fox News Digital.

"I'm not surprised at all that we're seeing so many outlets today trying to either downplay the scandal up in Alaska, or to refocus on what Trump is doing or saying about it," he continued. "We know the media has double standards when it comes to the left and the right."

DEM STRATEGIST SHRUGS OFF ALASKA BALLOT SCANDAL ON MS NOW, INSISTS 'THIS STUFF HAPPENS ALL THE TIME'

Meanwhile, Bloomberg columnist Nia Malika-Henderson appeared to praise the effort, saying that grassroots Democrats would view the scheme as a "good thing" that Democrats "finally" are "bringing a knife to a knife fight."

"I was sort of impressed that they were able to pull all of this off," Malika-Henderson said Thursday on CNN, before lamenting how the story got leaked to the Times and how it will give President Donald Trump "wind in his sails" in his accusations that Democrats cheat in elections.

Some journalists, including ABC News correspondent Mary Bruce and CBS News correspondent Ed O'Keefe, stressed to viewers that the Democratic scheme was "not illegal" despite newly launched probes looking into the matter since the Times story broke.

NBC News published multiple videos on its website posing questions like, "Is it illegal for Peltola campaign to recruit candidates?" and "Is it illegal to convince someone to run for office?"

ALASKA'S GOVERNOR ORDERS INVESTIGATION AFTER NYT REPORT ON ALLEGED DEM-LINKED SENATE ELECTION SCHEME

Republicans have long been suspicious about the candidacy of Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher who is among four Senate candidates listed on Alaska's rank-choice ballot. The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the state of Alaska seeking to block certification of the election results if the incumbent senator loses and votes cast for the other Sullivan could have changed the outcome.

Mainstream articles taking their denials dating back to at least June have largely taken them as fact. The Associated Press even wrote, "Sullivan said his campaign isn’t a sham or something Democrats put him up to doing," months before the Times reported his candidacy was no coincidence.

"In the summer of 2025, a staffer for Mary Peltola, the Alaska Democrat who was eyeing a run for Senate, received unusual instructions from top campaign aides: Find as many people named Dan Sullivan in Alaska as you can," the Times began its report Wednesday.

"The staffer complied, combing through voter records to produce a list of Dan Sullivans from across the state. ... [I]f the Peltola campaign or its allies could track down and persuade another Dan Sullivan to run for Senate, the confusion could cost the senator crucial votes on the state’s unusual, four-person ballot. The plan worked," the report said.

Snead believes that the "evidence was obvious," and blasted reporters who didn’t suspect something fishy was at play.

"Those willing to look have known for months that Decoy Dan’s candidacy is a brazen attempt to game ranked-choice voting, orchestrated by Democrats to help Mary Peltola win. That the mainstream media took the Peltola campaign’s and Democrats’ denials at face value for months and waited until nearly 60,000 Alaskans had already voted to reveal the truth, is unfortunately par for the course," Snead told Fox News Digital.

"Aren't you reporters? Shouldn't you have actually done some investigation, done some digging, or did you simply take the denial at face value and move on? Because that's not really what most people expect from serious investigative reporting outlets," he added.

SEN DAN SULLIVAN BRANDS PELTOLA'S ALLEGED BALLOT SCHEME A 'SCANDAL AT THE HIGHEST ORDER'

According to Peltola's former campaign manager, Elisa Rios, Peltola was not directly involved in the scheme but was "definitely aware."

Peltola's campaign has continued to deny involvement in his candidacy.

"But The Times has found, based on interviews and text messages, along with documents prepared for a potential lawsuit against the campaign, that not only did Ms. Peltola’s team work with people trying to recruit Mr. Sullivan to run for Senate, but the effort was much broader," the Times reported. "The group worked to coax other would-be spoilers into the race, to dilute the incumbent’s support and help catapult the Democrat to victory."

Peltola called the Times report a "distraction" and "stuff to sell newspapers." However, Republican Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has ordered an investigation into whether any crimes or civil violations were committed and the Department of Justice has issued new grand jury subpoenas.

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Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy warned that an alleged Democratic scheme to recruit a second "Dan Sullivan" into the state's pivotal Senate race exposed a deeper vulnerability in its election system, telling Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that his administration is investigating newly surfaced evidence just days before the midterms.

Dunleavy said The New York Times uncovered details that state officials did not have when they initially challenged the second Sullivan's candidacy this past summer — including alleged involvement by operatives connected to Democratic nominee Mary Peltola.

The Republican argued Alaska's relatively new election system helped make the controversy possible, as state and federal authorities pursue separate investigations into potential wrongdoing.

"This would have never happened if we didn't have ranked-choice voting," Dunleavy told Fox News Digital. "If this was a historical primary, a primary that our fathers and grandfathers had, this individual [retired schoolteacher Dan Sullivan of Petersburg] would not have gotten out of the primary."

'DECOY DAN' SULLIVAN CASE LEADS TOP SENATOR TO BREAK FOUR-YEAR X SILENCE: 'PATTERN OF LIES'

Dunleavy cited reporting that the Petersburg Sullivan initially denied having been recruited, but the Times found Peltola-connected operatives had worked to recruit spoilers named "Dan Sullivan" from around the state.

"We're compelled to do an investigation on behalf of the people of Alaska, because as they say in Alaska, which is a big fish state, if you can smell the fish way far from the dock, you've got a real problem," Dunleavy said.

"And so, this really does stink."

Alaska's election system advances the top four finishers from a nonpartisan primary to a general election in which voters rank candidates by preference. Dunleavy argued that traditional party primaries would have prevented the second Sullivan from reaching November's ballot.

"Our job as executives are to make sure that we can provide our people with an election that everyone could look at it and say that was done with integrity. And right now this cast, unfortunately, a pall over all of this," he said.

Dunleavy said the state's initial investigation in June after the Petersburg Sullivan surfaced ultimately led to the state Supreme Court, which allowed both Sullivans' names on the ballot, with Senator Sullivan marked "incumbent."

"Initially, when [Petersburg Sullivan] contacted the Division of Elections, he wanted his name listed as Daniel S. Sullivan. That's not his middle initial. That's the middle initial of our incumbent senator. His website looked very, very, very similar to our incumbent senator. And we went to court over this, and the Supreme Court of Alaska ruled that they were going to put his name on the ballot," he said.

"We knew there was a problem, but the courts had decided. And then of course, the article comes out in the Times and there's a whole list of issues that we were never privy to."

The new reporting identified contradictions in accounts of what transpired over the summer, including whether there was contact between Petersburg Sullivan and any campaigns.

RNC REJECTS NARRATIVE OF SPOILER CANDIDATES 'ON BOTH SIDES,' CALLS ALASKA SCHEME 'FRAUDULENT'

"There's a lot more smoke and a lot of fishy smell after this article came out," he said.

In Alaska, elections are overseen by the lieutenant governor, not the governor, and Fox News Digital reached out to Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom for comment on whether or how her office is investigating.

"They're obviously shoulders deep now in an election with all the people and all the polls open here with early voting. The governor's office is in charge of making sure that there's execution of the laws. That's what this investigation is going to look at to see if there were any violations of law or if there was a civil violation as well," Dunleavy added.

Peltola's campaign has denied involvement with either Sullivan campaign. Peltola also dismissed the controversy as a distraction during a campaign appearance Wednesday, while the New York Times reported that operatives connected to her campaign participated in efforts to recruit potential spoiler candidates.

Fox News Digital reached out to Peltola for additional comment.

Former FEC Chair Hans von Spakovsky told Fox News Digital that something investigators should look at is whether individuals paid by Peltola or another political organization were providing any "in-kind" services to the Petersburg Sullivan.

"In-kind services are considered a contribution to a campaign. Failure to disclose such services is a violation of federal law. Also, if the fair market value of the services provided to the campaign exceeds the maximum contribution allowed to a federal candidate, that is also a violation of federal law. If this was knowingly and intentionally done, it moves from being a civil violation to a criminal violation of the law," von Spakovsky said.

Von Spakovsky pointed to an FEC case involving socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign, which accepted campaign assistance from Australian Labor Party members whose travel expenses and stipends were paid by the foreign political organization.

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The FEC determined that the arrangement constituted a prohibited $24,422 in-kind foreign contribution. Sanders' campaign and the Australian Labor Party each agreed to pay $14,500 in civil penalties to settle the matter without admitting liability.

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With Election Day approaching, the governor said the investigation would continue for as long as necessary, warning that the alleged effort could foreshadow new attempts to manipulate elections through misleading candidacies and other tactics.

Fox News Digital's Hannah Brennan contributed to this report.

For years, Democrats — especially "mainstream" (left-wing) reporters — have pretended President Trump persecutes the press. Their current silence is deafening after Democratic Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty just brought bogus and stunning felony charges against two conservative journalists, Cam Higby and James O'Keefe, for having the audacity to expose Minnesota's woefully lax voter security protocols. In other words, Moriarty illegally charged two reporters for doing their jobs.

Moriarty’s illegal felony charges against disfavored reporters for non-crimes crossed a glaring red line, and the Trump Justice Department must immediately and publicly open a civil rights criminal case against Moriarty and others for conspiring to violate and violating Higby and O’Keefe’s First Amendment constitutional rights, under 18 U.S.C. §§ 241 and 242. If the evidence is there, which it seems obvious, Moriarty must face federal charges immediately. Anything short of this turns a blind eye to an extraordinarily dangerous open season on America’s free press.

Every illegal vote, as a matter of basic arithmetic, disenfranchises a legal voter. Election integrity requires public confidence in the system's security. Tina Peters faced nearly a decade in prison for revealing serious election flaws in Colorado until Democratic Gov. Jared Polis courageously commuted her sentence. Following Peters' lead, Higby and O'Keefe set out to test Minnesota's voting system for weaknesses. Higby wore a burqa and posed as a registered voter. He also vouched for a companion he said was registered as well. He filmed the exchange with poll workers to show his online audience just how vulnerable the system really is.

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The video shows that Higby never had to present photo identification. His word alone cleared his companion, who also produced no ID. To be clear, neither cast a ballot. The exercise simply aimed to demonstrate, as Higby certainly did, how easily someone can manipulate Minnesota's elections.

The state's U.S. Senate race between Republican Michele Tafoya and far-left Democrat Peggy Flanagan is tightening. The stakes are high: The race could decide control of the Senate chamber. Only lawful voters should cast ballots, and the law limits federal elections to American citizens.

SLEEPER GOP CANDIDATE PUTS BLUE-LEANING STATE IN PLAY AS FRAUD SCANDAL SHADOWS DEMS

What Higby and O'Keefe did was vintage investigative journalism, not voter fraud. The First Amendment guarantees a free press to protect this precise kind of work. If prosecutors can punish undercover journalism with felony charges, oversight by the Fourth Estate will dramatically diminish. Fear of prosecution and prison will chill would-be investigators whenever the powers-that-be dislike a story, such as one revealing insecure ballot safeguards.

But Moriarty, a Democrat lawfare crusader, does not care about any of this. She only cares about getting plaudits from top Democrat brass — and power — at any and all costs, including imprisoning reporters.

JONATHAN TURLEY: SUPREME COURT MUST TAKE HERRIDGE CASE AND PROTECT REPORTERS' SOURCES

Moriarty applies the law selectively. The case of Turning Point USA activist Savannah Hernandez proves it. Three agitators assaulted Hernandez in front of numerous witnesses and cameras captured the attack. Moriarty pursued only misdemeanor charges — a slap on the hand. Fortunately, federal prosecutors stepped in and filed felony charges against the three alleged attackers. Yet Moriarty now seeks to convict Higby and O'Keefe of serious crimes, though they attacked no one and neither voted illegally nor actually attempted to vote in the first place.

Moriarty's lawfare demands a federal response. Federal law, specifically 18 U.S.C. § 242, makes it a crime to willfully deprive anyone of constitutional rights under color of law. And 18 U.S.C. § 241 makes it a crime to conspire with others to do the same. Moriarty should go after fraudsters at the ballot box and those behind billions in bogus claims against Medicaid. Instead, she is hounding two journalists for doing their jobs: showing the public how dismal Minnesota's election protections are.

SOROS NETWORK REBUILDS PROGRESSIVE PROSECUTOR PUSH AFTER STRING OF ELECTION LOSSES

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Higby and O'Keefe should not face criminal charges. But Moriarty and her co-conspirators must. Indicting them would send a resounding message to Soros-backed and other leftist district attorneys across the nation: Lawfare will carry dire legal consequences. Prosecutors must meet the highest standards. After all, as the left intoned during the anti-Trump lawfare years, no one is above the law.

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The election system in Minnesota is facing scrutiny on social media after a clip of a state official speaking to Somali voters reignited concerns about election integrity in the state.

"If you’re already registered to vote, you don’t need to bring anything with you," Minnesota Voter Outreach Director Melanie Hazelip said on Somali TV.

"You just show up to your early voting location, which is usually the county office or City Hall. Minneapolis and the bigger jurisdictions have a lot of extra places where you can go, like a lot of libraries or community centers. As long as you’re registered to vote, you don’t need to bring anything with you. 

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"If you’re not registered to vote … you still have options. If you have a Minnesota ID that is updated, that’s all you need to bring with you. If you don’t have that, there is a list of documents on our website that you can find. You still have options to get registered same day."

While Hazelip's comments were in accordance with the laws on the books, they prompted outrage on social media after being posted by conservative influencer End Wokeness, and the post racked up almost a million views with users making the case that the system is too lax.

"A Minnesota election official just went on Somali TV and walked viewers through how to same-day register and vote using a Minnesota state ID," retired Navy intelligence Officer Phillip C. Parrish posted on X. 

"Minnesota hands out those IDs to non-citizens with no citizenship marking. Vouching lets one registered voter clear up to eight others on an oath. Citizenship is required by law. Real-time proof is not. The same state that lost hundreds of millions to documented fraud in childcare, nutrition, and Medicaid programs is now advertising the lowest-friction path to the ballot on community TV. Affirm you’re a citizen. Cast the vote. Get investigated later—if at all. This is how the system is built. It is not an accident."

Federalist Society co-founder David McIntosh wrote on X, "Democrats are on a mission to tell every non-citizen how they can get away with voting in our elections.

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"How is this not election interference?"

"Nothing to see here, I'm sure," Red Ax Strategies President Matthew Brodsky posted on X.

"This is why passing the SAVE America Act is crucial," conservative commentator Riley Gaines posted on X.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, the Minnesota Secretary of State's office said it "provides information and resources on Minnesota election laws to hundreds of nonpartisan community groups every year as a part of our regular voter engagement efforts."

"Recently, our voter outreach director spoke with a local news outlet and provided accurate information about Minnesota election laws and how eligible voters cast their ballots. Unfortunately, her accurate remarks have been misinterpreted and misrepresented by political actors online," the statement said. 

"With only a few days left before the election, we remain focused on making sure every eligible Minnesotan knows how and where to cast their ballot."

Bill Glahn, a policy fellow at the Center of the American Experiment, told Fox News Digital, "given the timing, so close to the election — and the audience, Somali TV — she really should have emphasized the need to be an American citizen in order to vote."

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"It's true most Somali immigrants are naturalized citizens, but not all," Glahn said. "In fact, we just had a noncitizen sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for the Feeding Our Future fraud."

The scrutiny comes as the Walz administration confronts hundreds of millions of dollars lost to social services fraud tied to the state’s Somali immigrant community. Critics pointed to a further wrinkle in Minnesota state law signed by Gov. Tim Walz in 2023 that provided for Driver's Licenses For All regardless of immigration status. The policy also stipulates that the licenses carry no markings indicating citizenship, even though such IDs are commonly used to register to vote.

Under Minnesota law, a registered voter can "vouch" for up to eight other voters’ residency who want to sign up for same-day voter registration without an ID. The registered voter must go with the person or people to the polling place and sign an oath verifying their address, according to an official fact sheet from the Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State.

Glahn told Fox News Digital earlier this year that while the state touts the safeguards it has put in place to ensure only citizens vote, "it’s like murder’s illegal, but it happens all the time."

"It's a penalty of perjury," he said. "You signed an oath, but if you signed as Mickey Mouse, they're not going to find you."

In September, a federal indictment was handed down charging an illegal immigrant from India with knowingly making the false claim to be a U.S. citizen to vote in the 2024 general election in Minnesota.

Fox News Digital's Charles Creitz contributed to this report

An election integrity expert raised concerns Wednesday about California and Washington after the Justice Department identified thousands of suspected noncitizen voter registrations, including cases in which residents told officials they were not U.S. citizens yet were still registered to vote.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, J. Christian Adams, president of the Public Interest Legal Foundation, blamed the states’ automatic voter registration systems and local officials’ refusal to use available federal tools to verify citizenship.

"Noncitizens are getting on the rolls all over the country through the motor voter program. They're going into (the) DMV. Sometimes they're even telling the DMV they’re not citizens, and states are still registering them to vote," Adams said.

"That's why aliens are getting on the rolls in states like Washington and California that have automatic voter registration."

FEDERAL OFFICIALS IDENTIFY 400 NONCITIZENS REGISTERED TO VOTE IN WASHINGTON STATE: 'TIP OF THE ICEBERG'

California and Washington both require U.S. citizenship to register to vote, though their automatic voter registration systems differ. California DMV customers who indicate they are eligible to vote can be automatically registered, while Washington's automatic registration through the Department of Licensing is tied to transactions requiring proof of U.S. citizenship, such as obtaining an enhanced driver's license or ID.

However, federal officials said they identified more than 20,000 likely noncitizens on California voter rolls, many with addresses in Los Angeles County, and more than 400 suspected cases in Washington. The findings come just ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

Washington Secretary of State Steve R. Hobbs pushed back against the Justice Department on Wednesday, criticizing its findings for containing "several glaring deficiencies."

The list included U.S. citizens and individuals who are not currently registered to vote, Hobbs said.

"Without individualized proof of ineligibility, it would be both irresponsible and illegal for election officials to decline to process a registered voter’s ballot. If you have individualized proof, I invite you to provide it so election officials can take appropriate steps that are consistent with federal and state law," Hobbs said. 

The California secretary of state also pushed back last week, saying a review of the DOJ’s data on Los Angeles County found "significant accuracy problems with their sweeping claims."

"At best, this litigation is a reckless political stunt. At worst, it threatens to disenfranchise thousands of Californians this election," the office said. 

DOJ HAS VERIFIED 20,000 NONCITIZENS ON CALIFORNIA VOTER ROLLS, FEDERAL PROSECUTOR SAYS

Adams also blamed election officials for refusing to use the Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database to identify noncitizens on voter rolls.

He described SAVE as the "best database there is for aliens" that is "just sitting there waiting for them to use."

"They don't want to check. They don't have to check. Federal law doesn't require them to check. What federal law does is make data available through the SAVE database at DHS," Adams said.

Hobbs criticized the DOJ’s reliance on the SAVE database, calling it "unreliable" and arguing that the absence of a citizenship record does not establish immigration status.

"It cannot rely on the mere absence of a name from the SAVE database or the department’s assertions based on the vague and untested methodology described in the lawsuit against California," Hobbs said.

MORE THAN A QUARTER-MILLION NONCITIZENS MAY BE REGISTERED TO VOTE IN 4 KEY STATES, DHS ALLEGES

As a result of lax regulations, Adams said his team has identified major voter roll issues in California beyond noncitizen registration, including duplicate registrations and registrations associated with deceased residents.

"It's what we expect now from California because partisan politics has taken over election administration in that state," he said.

"They think it's part of the program to disenfranchise people if they check citizenship, but it's not," he added. "They're saying that everything's fine here. ‘Don't look at us. We're as good as it can be,’ But the reality is they're really not using the data that are available to keep the rolls clean."

DOJ THREATENS EMERGENCY LEGAL ACTION AGAINST CALIFORNIA OVER SUSPECTED NONCITIZEN VOTERS

Other states, including Florida and North Carolina, have used the SAVE database and found fewer issues, according to Adams, contrasting their approach with California and Washington.

While the Justice Department's disclosure marks a rare public accounting of suspected noncitizen voter registrations, Adams said the findings will likely not affect the upcoming midterm elections.

Audits usually happen during off-election years when there is sufficient time for legal review, according to Adams. Waiting until just before an election in an even-numbered year can result in courts dismissing challenges due to "laches," a legal principle that penalizes someone for waiting too long without a valid reason to file a legal claim.

"There's very little you can do right before an election. That's why the hard work in these cases is in odd-numbered years, not in October or even-numbered years. So, you really have to do this stuff early, or you could lose on what's called laches," he said.

Despite the timing, Adams, who worked in the DOJ’s Voting Section more than a decade ago, applauded the department for taking the matter seriously.

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"Nobody took noncitizen registration seriously until now. And that's a welcome change," he said.

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s effort to restore voting rights to tens of thousands of convicted felons sparked controversy Thursday after an attorney obtained an executive citation addressed to "Betty No Last Name," purportedly notifying the recipient that her voting rights had been restored.

The citation identifies No Last Name as one of more than 66,000 Virginians whose rights to vote, serve on juries and seek public office have reportedly been restored under Spanberger's administration. The controversy comes ahead of a Nov. 3 ballot measure that would make voting rights restoration automatic upon release from prison.

"It’s a big deal," said Virginia Beach attorney Tim Anderson, who first obtained the citation for No Last Name and shared it with Fox News Digital.

SPANBERGER VOTING RIGHTS LETTERS SENT TO DEAD FELONS AMID BALLOT ACCESS PUSH

"It’s clear [Spanberger] didn’t sign it. No governor and no secretary of the commonwealth would sign a restoration order that says Betty No Last Name, so they’re not looking at it; they didn’t review anything," Anderson told Fox News Digital in an interview Thursday. Each citation bears the signatures of the governor and Secretary of the Commonwealth Candi Mundon-King.

"Whereas, Betty No Last Name, by reason of conviction(s), suffers political disabilities …," the citation obtained by Fox News Digital says.

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Anderson said he obtained the citation through a public records request to the Chesapeake Sheriff's Office after reports emerged that restoration notices had been sent to felons who are now deceased. He said the document originated from Spanberger's office and was sent to the sheriff's office.

He speculated that the citations were generated through a mail merge of records and signed using an autopen despite language in the documents indicating that each case had been individually reviewed.

Former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares also questioned whether the administration had individually reviewed the restoration cases.

"Four mentions of ‘Betty No Last Name’ and still no last name. I’m thinking perhaps Abigail Spanberger’s ‘individualized review’ is just imaginary," Miyares said in a statement.

Fox News Digital reached out to Spanberger, Mundon-King and the Chesapeake Sheriff's Office for comment. A sheriff's office official also confirmed veracity of the citation received in No Last Name's name, and provided an additional copy to Fox News Digital.

Anderson said he found the questionable citation after contacting only a handful of Virginia law enforcement agencies and believes similar cases may exist elsewhere in the state. He also suggested that officials whose signatures appear on the citations could face criminal liability if the documents were found to be fraudulent, potentially resulting in forfeiture of office.

Anderson’s finding went viral on social media Thursday, and critics pointed out how No Last Name’s citation colored the upcoming ballot question on automatic rights restoration for felons.

Some Virginia lawmakers have called for an independent audit of Spanberger's rights-restoration process. State Sen. Glen Sturtevant, R-Chesterfield, who has called for the audit, said reports have since emerged of restoration citations being sent to deceased individuals.

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"Now a certificate for "Betty No Last Name," signed by the governor. Still no audit. Vote no on Question 3," Sturtevant said in a statement.

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"Congratulations to Betty No Last Name," added Del. Wren Williams, R-Stuart. "You can now vote in Virginia."

A federal judge rejected the Justice Department’s request for a temporary restraining order that would have barred California from counting mail ballots from more than 20,000 alleged noncitizen voters, saying the election "is already underway."

U.S. District Judge David Carter, in a ruling issued late Wednesday night after a hearing in Los Angeles, said the government's request "would wreak havoc and disrupt the election that is already underway, create a chilling effect on election workers and voters alike, and discount the votes of United States citizens."

The Justice Department immediately appealed the decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

CALIFORNIA MUST RESPOND TO DOJ'S EMERGENCY REQUEST OVER BALLOTS MAILED TO ALLEGED NONCITIZENS, COURT RULES

"The district court denied our emergency request to sequester ballots from 20,000 suspected noncitizens," U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli wrote on X. "Every day, more ballots are processed by election officials. This ongoing emergency disenfranchises American citizens through dilution. The Solicitor General authorized an immediate appeal. We filed our Notice of Appeal and will immediately seek an emergency order from the Ninth Circuit."

NEWSOM SPARS WITH TRUMP-APPOINTED PROSECUTOR OVER 20,000 SUSPECTED NONCITIZENS ON VOTER ROLLS

California mails ballots to all 23 million of its registered voters. More than 3.7 million people have already voted in the state, including more than 500,000 ballots already processed this week with the ballot already out of the envelope, according to court filings.

It would be impossible to know which ballot belonged to a particular voter now, according to Los Angeles County officials.

BLANCHE WON'T RULE OUT DOJ BLOCKING ELECTION CERTIFICATION IN 'DOOMSDAY' SCENARIO

"Eroded trust in our democracy is irreparable," Judge Carter, appointed by former President Bill Clinton, wrote. "Once a vote is segregated, lasting harm has occurred. If the Executive can discount votes and threaten an ongoing election due to unproven allegations, then our democracy is in danger. This Court declines to be a party to such process."

STATE DEPARTMENT CONSIDERS SHARING PASSPORT RECORDS FOR VOTER CITIZENSHIP CHECKS

Carter said that "states have control over their elections," but the federal government claims it has evidence the state refuses to accept that there are 20,000 noncitizens registered to vote in the state of California.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted that states are not doing enough to stop noncitizens from voting, which he says is widespread.

Carter said the Justice Department never explained why counting ballots would impair any prosecutions under the law, and California said the DOJ's assertions relied on "suspect data."

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT CHARGES 16 ACROSS MULTIPLE STATES WITH ALLEGED ILLEGAL VOTING, ELECTION CRIMES

"There are no mysterious databases; this was laid out in publicly filed declarations," Essayli wrote Wednesday night on X. "Voter rolls were compared to USCIS immigration, Social Security, and passport records. We are not changing the rules mid-election, we are enforcing them. It’s unlawful for noncitizens to vote."

Registered voters can self-declare to be noncitizens to get removed from the voter roll, and do so while they are seeking naturalization or saying they are ineligible for jury duty.

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In Washington state, the Justice Department on Monday sent a letter asking officials not to count any ballots received from 400 voters it claims are not citizens. Washington had 5 million registered voters as of 2024, state records show.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

MEPs are pushing for an EU solidarity mechanism to help patients pay for treatment abroad, arguing that financial barriers are preventing Europeans from exercising rights they have had on paper for more than a decade.

The calls came as Parliament discussed a report commissioned to inform its own-initiative report on modernising patients’ rights in cross-border healthcare. The study found that cross-border care accounts for just 0.004% of EU public health expenditure, despite patients continuing to face upfront costs, complex reimbursement procedures and prior-authorisation requirements.

Tomislav Sokol (EPP, Croatia) called the proposed solidarity mechanism a potential “game changer” for vulnerable patients, but challenged Parliament to spell out how it would work.

“How would it work in practice? How would it be financed? Would this be part of the EU budget?” Sokol asked. “We need to know it now, so that we can also use this in negotiations on the future EU budget, in the next MFF.”