Mary Peltola's campaign has sued Alaska election officials for records showing which absentee ballots were rejected in Tuesday's election and why, with her US Senate race against Republican Dan Sullivan separated by only about 600 votes.

Filed on Friday in Anchorage Superior Court by the campaign group Alaskans for Mary, the suit names Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, Elections Director Carol Beecher and the Division of Elections. It seeks a court order compelling the records to be handed over while counting continues.

The campaign says it asked for the register on 27 October and followed up after Election Day, but got no response and was later denied immediate access. "Plaintiff cannot ensure that its voters' lawful votes were properly counted without knowing whose absentee ballots were rejected or questioned, and why," the complaint says.

The suit does not claim any ballot was wrongly rejected, nor ask the court to stop the count or change any totals.

State calls the records confidential

Alaska's Department of Law said the division has long treated the records as confidential and that state law does not require their release, because the information is preliminary and subject to change.

State law gives the division 60 days after certification to mail rejected absentee voters a notice explaining why their ballot did not count.

Count continues

Peltola led by 637 votes in Wednesday afternoon's count, with roughly 75,000 ballots still to be counted. The next count is due on Tuesday 10 November. Absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day can arrive through 13 November from inside the US and 18 November from overseas; if no candidate wins a majority, a ranked-choice count on 18 November decides the race.

A federal judge also threw out a Justice Department suit to block certification if Sullivan lost; the department has appealed.