美國期中選舉進入最後週末，阿拉斯加與加州選票爭議升溫

作者：安德魯・古茲沃德、大衛・摩根與內森・弗蘭迪諾By Andrew Goudsward, David Morgan and Nathan Frandino

華盛頓／安克拉治，10月31日（路透社）——美國總統唐納・川普政府推進對阿拉斯加州關鍵美國參議院選戰的刑事調查，並於週六表示，可能會把圍繞數千張加州郵寄選票的爭議上訴至最高法院。與此同時，攸關國會控制權的期中選舉競選進入最後一個週末。WASHINGTON/ANCHORAGE, Oct 31 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's administration pressed a criminal investigation into Alaska’s pivotal US Senate race and said on Saturday it would likely take its fight over thousands of California mail-in ballots to the Supreme Court, as the midterm campaign for control of Congress entered its final weekend.

在阿拉斯加，聯邦檢察官正在調查民主黨挑戰者瑪麗・佩爾托拉的助理是否協助招募退休教師小丹尼爾・J・蘇利文參選，因為他的姓名與共和黨現任參議員丹・S・蘇利文相似。這場選情膠著的競選被視為民主黨在週二投票中奪下參議院希望的關鍵。In Alaska, federal prosecutors are investigating whether aides to Democratic challenger Mary Peltola helped to recruit a retired schoolteacher, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., to run because his name is similar to the Republican incumbent, Senator Dan S. Sullivan. The closely contested race is seen as crucial to Democrats’ hopes of taking the Senate in Tuesday’s vote.

這是35場參議院選戰之一，另有全部435個眾議院席次也將改選；這些選舉將決定川普所屬共和黨能否在他任內最後兩年繼續掌控國會。It is one of 35 Senate races, along with all 435 House seats, that will decide whether Trump’s Republicans keep control of Congress for his final two years in office.

共和黨目前在參議院以53席對47席占多數，在眾議院也握有些微優勢。Republicans hold a 53-47 Senate majority and a narrow edge in the House.

提前投票已創下紀錄。佛羅里達大學選舉實驗室表示，超過5100萬名美國人已親自或透過郵寄投下選票，高於2022年上次期中選舉投票日前已投票的近4600萬人。Early voting has set a record. More than 51 million Americans have already cast ballots in person or by mail, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab, up from nearly 46 million who voted before Election Day at the last midterms in 2022.

在加州，一個聯邦上訴法院本週以2比1裁定，司法部未能提出充分理由支持其緊急請求；司法部要求加州擱置逾2萬名登記選民的郵寄選票，聲稱這些選民可能不是公民。In California, a federal appeals court this week ruled 2-1 that the Justice Department had failed to justify its emergency bid to force the state to set aside mail ballots from more than 20,000 registered voters it alleges are likely noncitizens.

代理副司法部長特倫特・麥科特週六告訴福斯新聞：「我不太願意給出最終答案，但我認為這件事接下來很可能會送到最高法院。」他並補充，任何要求最高法院審理的聲請都會在週二選舉前提出。“I hesitate to give a final answer, but I think probably the Supreme Court’s next on this one,” acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter told Fox News on Saturday, adding that any request for Supreme Court consideration would come before Tuesday’s election.

川普過去一個月已在多州密集助選，但週六待在佛羅里達州棕櫚灘的海湖俱樂部。他將於週日返回競選行程，前往堪薩斯州與愛荷華州。Trump has been on a campaign blitz in multiple states over the past month but is spending Saturday at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. He returns to the campaign trail on Sunday in Kansas and Iowa.

阿拉斯加調查升溫ALASKA PROBE INTENSIFIES

司法部在阿拉斯加的最高檢察官、聯邦檢察官麥可・海曼在週五記者會上表示，《紐約時報》近日一篇報導稱有人曾試圖招募小丹尼爾・J・蘇利文，這促使聯邦調查局投入此案的資源「激增」。The Justice Department's top prosecutor in Alaska, US Attorney Michael Heyman, said at a Friday press conference that a recent New York Times article, saying there had been an effort to recruit Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. had driven a "surge" of FBI resources onto the case.

海曼表示，他已指派數名檢察官處理此案，調查步驟正「密集且迅速」進行。Heyman said he had assigned several prosecutors to it and that investigative steps were taking place "intensely and swiftly."

佩爾托拉和競選委員會否認參與任何招募第二名蘇利文的行動。這名退休教師也否認與佩爾托拉競選團隊協調。Peltola and the campaign committee have denied involvement in any effort to recruit the second Sullivan. The retired teacher has denied coordinating with Peltola's campaign.

阿拉斯加選民大多未把這場選票爭議放在心上。Voters in Alaska have largely dismissed the fight over the ballot.

36歲安克拉治居民米奇・巴斯特週六站在一處投票所外說：「我知道哪個丹・蘇利文是哪個丹・蘇利文，你懂嗎？選票上寫得很清楚。」"I knew which Dan Sullivan was which Dan Sullivan, you know? It's very clear on the ballot," Anchorage resident Mickey Buster, 36, said as he stood outside a polling place on Saturday.

但另一名安克拉治選民、52歲的卡蘿・里格斯表示，她對整個情況感到失望，也擔心這「可能會讓部分選民感到混淆」。But another Anchorage voter, Carol Riggs, 52, said she was disappointed by the entire situation and the possibility it "muddies the water for some voters, potentially."

密西根內部分歧MICHIGAN RIFT

在密西根州，民主黨人阿卜杜勒・埃爾—賽義德與共和黨人麥克・羅傑斯角逐另一場備受關注的參議院選戰。埃爾—賽義德與他在初選擊敗的對手、美國眾議員海莉・史蒂文斯之間的嫌隙再次升溫。In Michigan, where Democrat Abdul El-Sayed faces Republican Mike Rogers in another closely watched Senate race, El-Sayed’s feud with the rival he beat in the primary, US Representative Haley Stevens, flared again.

一名知情人士表示，埃爾—賽義德競選團隊要求史蒂文斯在選舉日前不要出席他的活動，以免「分散外界對競選核心議題的注意力」。史蒂文斯已支持埃爾—賽義德，但要求他譴責一個外部團體將高昂雜貨價格歸咎於以色列的廣告，並為過去有關以色列的言論道歉。El-Sayed’s campaign asked Stevens to skip his events through Election Day so as “not to distract from the central issues of the campaign,” a person familiar with the matter said. Stevens has backed El-Sayed but demanded he condemn an outside group’s ad blaming Israel for high grocery prices and apologize for past rhetoric about Israel.

密西根州立大學政治學者麥特・葛羅斯曼表示：「選舉日前夕，黨內持續出現明顯分裂，對埃爾—賽義德競選團隊當然沒有幫助。」民調顯示，埃爾—賽義德大致已整合民主黨支持。“It’s certainly unhelpful to the El-Sayed campaign to have continued visible division within the party just before Election Day,” said Matt Grossmann, a political scientist at Michigan State University. Polls show El-Sayed has largely consolidated Democratic support.

川普政府向各州施壓TRUMP’S PRESSURE CAMPAIGN ON STATES

川普政府除了試圖阻止計入逾2萬名加州選民的選票，並聲稱這些選民可能不是公民之外，也已起訴約30個州和哥倫比亞特區，要求取得未經遮蔽的選民名冊。The administration, beyond its bid to block the counting of ballots from more than 20,000 California voters it alleges could be noncitizens, has sued roughly 30 states and the District of Columbia seeking unredacted voter rolls.

這些法律動作已引發州選務官員憂心。依據憲法，各州對選舉如何進行擁有主要權限。The legal maneuvers have alarmed state election officials. Under the Constitution, states have primary authority over how elections are run.

週五，一名聯邦法官命令司法部停止威脅起訴拒絕遵循其指令的加州選務官員。On Friday, a federal judge ordered the Justice Department to stop threatening to prosecute California election officials who defy its directives.

民主黨籍加州州長加文・紐森週六警告該州最高層級的聯邦法官，司法部可能尋求令狀，在選舉結果認證前扣押選票；不過他表示，自己並不知道目前有任何待審的請求。紐森在給法官的信中表示，扣押選票的唯一理由「就是為了干預」計票。California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, on Saturday warned the state’s top federal judges that the Justice Department may seek warrants to seize ballots before results are certified, though he said he did not know of any pending request. Newsom said in a letter to the judges that the only reason to seize ballots “would be to interfere” in the count.

布倫南司法中心的肖恩・莫拉萊斯—多伊爾表示，這些行動雖然不太可能在法院勝訴，但目的是「製造不確定、散播恐懼、不信任和混亂」，希望藉此施壓阿拉斯加副州長等官員，「去做他們不該做的事」。Sean Morales-Doyle of the Brennan Center for Justice said the efforts, while unlikely to win in court, aim at “creating uncertainty, sowing fear, distrust, chaos,” in hopes of pressuring officials such as Alaska’s lieutenant governor “to do something that they’re not supposed to do.”

即便如此，路透社／益普索於9月30日至10月5日進行的民調顯示，76%的美國選民有信心自己的選票會被準確計入，共和黨人與民主黨人的信心水準大致同樣高。Even so, 76% of US voters are confident their ballots will be counted accurately, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted from September 30 to October 5, with confidence about equally high among Republicans and Democrats.

（華盛頓安德魯・古茲沃德與大衛・摩根、安克拉治內森・弗蘭迪諾、康乃狄克州威爾頓內森・萊恩、紐約蘿拉・馬修斯採訪報導；布萊德・布魯克斯與丹尼爾・特羅塔撰稿；塞爾吉歐・諾恩、威廉・馬拉德、艾德蒙・克拉曼與大衛・葛瑞格里歐編輯）(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward and David Morgan in Washington, Nathan Frandino in Anchorage, Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut, and Laura Matthews in New York; Writing by Brad Brooks and Daniel Trotta; Editing by Sergio Non, William Mallard, Edmund Klamann and David Gregorio)