A Senate candidate with the same name as current President Dan Sullivan is ineligible for the ballot, according to official rules

JUNE, Alaska (AP) — A top Alaska election official has ruled that a U.S. Senate candidate with the same name and party affiliation as Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan is ineligible to appear on the state’s primary ballot in August.

In a letter Monday to challenger Sullivan, Elections Director Carol Beecher said she had concluded that his candidacy announcement “was not filed in order to announce an actual bona fide candidacy for the office of U.S. Senator, but instead was filed with the intent to confuse or mislead and thereby compromise the integrity or impartiality of the ballot.”

She said the competitor could appeal the ruling.

A message seeking comment from challenger Sullivan was not immediately returned. In a social media post on Sunday, he said he “met the qualifications and entered this race because I am unhappy with the current senator’s 12-year record and feel we need change. It’s that simple.”

Read more: Dan Sullivan, another in the Alaska Senate race, says running is not a sham