Alaska Election: Judge dismisses federal bid to halt Senate certification

Federal Judge Sharon Gleason dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Trump administration on Sunday. The case sought to block the certification of Alaska Senate race results if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses. The government argued that voters were confused by the presence of two candidates with similar names on the ballot.

The Justice Department cited the preamble of the National Voter Registration Act in its filing. It asked the court to stop state officials from certifying election results. The goal was to allow time for an investigation into whether the ranked-choice ballot misled voters. Gleason, a nominee of former President Barack Obama, found the federal government did not have the legal ability to bring this specific suit.

Gleason wrote that a court order pausing certification would likely violate Alaskan voters' right to a secret ballot. She noted the absence of any explanation from the United States on how its requested relief could fix the alleged injury while maintaining ballot secrecy. "The absence of any explanation from the United States as to how its requested relief could redress its alleged injury while simultaneously maintaining the secrecy of the ballot is telling," she wrote.

Kiersten Pels, a spokesperson for the Justice Department, said the agency plans to appeal the decision. In a statement, Pels argued that Alaskan voters deserve a fair election and should not be misled in an attempt to rig outcomes.

Voting rights groups that intervened to defend Alaska against the lawsuit welcomed the ruling. Sophia Lin Lakin, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Voting Rights Project, called the Department of Justice attempt lawless from the start. She described the move as a reckless waste of taxpayer money aimed at silencing hundreds of thousands of Alaska voters.

President Trump stated he ordered the lawsuit because two Senate candidates share similar names. Sen. Dan Sullivan is the Republican incumbent. Daniel Sullivan Jr. is an unaffiliated candidate. Alaska's Republican Party previously supported a state court effort to keep Sullivan Jr. off the ballot. The Alaska Supreme Court ruled in June that Sullivan Jr. has the right to run.

Alaska's Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy has ordered an investigation into the race. He indicated that state certification may be delayed depending on the investigation's results. "If we find out there's wrongdoing, and if that means that the certification then is stopped or changed, then that's what happens," Dunleavy said in an interview with NewsNation on Oct. 30. U.S. Attorney Michael Heyman confirmed an ongoing criminal probe by the Justice Department at a press conference in Anchorage on the same day.

Former Rep. Mary Peltola, the Democratic candidate, has denied any involvement in recruiting Sullivan Jr. Incumbent Sullivan said in a Sunday interview with CNN's State of the Union that he would accept the election results, win or lose. More than 86,700 Alaskans have cast ballots during early voting, according to the state Division of Elections. Voting continues through Tuesday's Election Day.