# The ballot-name-confusion tactic > **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou. > > Cite as: "The ballot-name-confusion tactic," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/ballot-name-confusion-tactic/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *John Kiriakou's historical tour of the ballot-splitting tactic, running a second candidate with the same name as the incumbent to peel off votes from voters who cannot tell the two apart. He anchors the account with the 2026 Alaska Senate race in which two men named Dan Sullivan appeared on the same ballot, then works back through John F. Kennedy's own 1946 use of the trick, a Florida 2020 race decided by 32 votes, and Russian and Indian variants that push the mechanic to comic extremes.* - **Purpose:** To split votes from the higher-profile candidate by fielding a lookalike name - **Alaska 2026:** Two Dan Sullivans on the ballot, one the sitting Republican senator, the other a retired school teacher and Forest Service employee; DOJ has issued grand-jury subpoenas - **JFK 1946:** John F. Kennedy's father paid a 27-year-old janitor also named [Joe Russo](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/joe-russo-1946) to file against the Boston City Council member of the same name. Result, Kennedy 22,183; Russo 5,661; Russo (janitor) 773 - **Florida 2020:** State senator José Javier Rodríguez lost by 32 votes to a Republican after a consultant approved running another candidate named José Javier Rodríguez - **Russia:** Kremlin critic Boris Vishnevsky ran against two other men named Boris Vishnevsky, with the two altered to look alike for illiterate voters using photo ballots - **India:** BJP candidate Chandu Lal Sahu faced *seven* other Chandu Lal Sahus plus three Chandu Ram Sahus. A study of Indian assembly elections found 74 races with a top-three candidate facing a same-name opponent **The ballot-name-confusion tactic** is [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)'s catalogue of a specific campaign trick, fielding a second candidate with the same name as the front-runner in order to peel off votes from those who cannot tell the two apart. He works it out in the frame of the 2026 Alaska Senate race and then places it against half a century of examples. ## Alaska 2026 *"Voters in this Alaska race had something very interesting on their ballots. It's not very nice, but it's very political. There are two men named Dan Sullivan, both on the ballot."* One is the sitting Republican Senator; the other is *"a retired school teacher and a US Forest Service employee with zero political experience."*[1][2] Under Alaska's ranked-choice, all-comers primary, the top four advance. *"The Justice Department has issued grand jury subpoenas as part of an investigation into whether Dan J. Sullivan entered the race with the intent of confusing voters. An investigation does not mean that anybody committed a crime. And Sullivan says that his candidacy is legitimate."*[3] ## JFK, 1946 *"In 1946, John F. Kennedy used the same trick to first get elected to Congress, when he was running to represent Massachusetts's 11th Congressional District. His main opponent was a strong, popular established candidate. His name was Boston City Council member Joe Russo."*[4] *"Well, Joseph P. Kennedy senior, John Kennedy's father, and Democratic campaign operatives paid a 27-year-old janitor also named Joe Russo to file his candidacy to confuse voters. Now Kennedy received far more votes than Russo. Kennedy got 22,183 votes. Russo got 5,661 votes, and then the other Joe Russo, the janitor, got 773."*[5] ## Florida, 2020 The Florida variant, in Kiriakou's rendering, is the case where the trick decided the race. *"In Florida in 2020, Democratic State Senator José Javier Rodríguez lost by 32 votes to Republican Ileana Garcia. Well, a consultant later acknowledged that he approved the move to run somebody else named José Javier Rodríguez against state senator José Javier Rodríguez."*[6] ## Russia, the Vishnevsky variant *"In Russia, it's a little bit more difficult to pull this off because candidates have their headshot featured on the ballots with their names. This is in case the voter is illiterate and can't read the names, you can at least recognise the picture. Boris Vishnevsky, a staunch Kremlin critic, ran against two men who were also named Boris Vishnevsky. But not just that. What the Kremlin did is, they made them change their appearance so that they all three looked alike. So even the illiterate voters couldn't tell who was who."*[7][8][9] ## India, the Chandu Lal Sahu case *"In India in 2014, this is one of my favourite examples. BJP candidate Chandu Lal Sahu faced seven other candidates also named Chandu Lal Sahu, plus three other guys named Chandu Ram Sahu just for good measure."* Kiriakou pairs that with a broader finding: *"An analysis of assembly elections in India found 74 areas in which at least one of the top three candidates faced someone with exactly the same name."*[9][10] ## See also - [John F. Kennedy](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-f-kennedy) - [Boris Vishnevsky](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/boris-vishnevsky) ## Sources 1. White House Melts Down Over Jon Ossoff | Ep.12 (2026-08-20), at 01:03. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGucFQykKq8&t=63s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-20-john-kiriakou-white-house-melts-down-over-jon-ossoff/ 2. White House Melts Down Over Jon Ossoff | Ep.12 (2026-08-20), at 01:35. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGucFQykKq8&t=95s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-20-john-kiriakou-white-house-melts-down-over-jon-ossoff/ 3. White House Melts Down Over Jon Ossoff | Ep.12 (2026-08-20), at 03:10. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGucFQykKq8&t=190s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-20-john-kiriakou-white-house-melts-down-over-jon-ossoff/ 4. White House Melts Down Over Jon Ossoff | Ep.12 (2026-08-20), at 03:43. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGucFQykKq8&t=223s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-20-john-kiriakou-white-house-melts-down-over-jon-ossoff/ 5. White House Melts Down Over Jon Ossoff | Ep.12 (2026-08-20), at 04:13. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGucFQykKq8&t=253s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-20-john-kiriakou-white-house-melts-down-over-jon-ossoff/ 6. White House Melts Down Over Jon Ossoff | Ep.12 (2026-08-20), at 04:46. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGucFQykKq8&t=286s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-20-john-kiriakou-white-house-melts-down-over-jon-ossoff/ 7. White House Melts Down Over Jon Ossoff | Ep.12 (2026-08-20), at 05:17. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGucFQykKq8&t=317s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-20-john-kiriakou-white-house-melts-down-over-jon-ossoff/ 8. White House Melts Down Over Jon Ossoff | Ep.12 (2026-08-20), at 05:49. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGucFQykKq8&t=349s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-20-john-kiriakou-white-house-melts-down-over-jon-ossoff/ 9. White House Melts Down Over Jon Ossoff | Ep.12 (2026-08-20), at 06:20. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGucFQykKq8&t=380s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-20-john-kiriakou-white-house-melts-down-over-jon-ossoff/ 10. White House Melts Down Over Jon Ossoff | Ep.12 (2026-08-20), at 06:51. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGucFQykKq8&t=411s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-20-john-kiriakou-white-house-melts-down-over-jon-ossoff/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/ballot-name-confusion-tactic/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt