Alaska State Officials Seek Dismissal of DOJ Lawsuit Over Senate Ballot Dispute
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Alaska's Republican-led government asked a federal judge to throw out a Justice Department lawsuit aimed at halting certification of the Senate race, calling the request to separate ballots impossible and a violation of voter privacy.
Alaska's Republican-controlled state government filed a brief on Saturday urging U.S. District Court Judge Sharon L. Gleason to dismiss a lawsuit filed at the direction of President Donald Trump that seeks to stop certification of a possible Democratic victory in the state's U.S. Senate race. The filing described the suit as "meritless" and argued that the Justice Department's request to separate ballots showing votes for a second candidate named Dan Sullivan is "both disturbing and impossible" and would breach voter privacy.
The Justice Department had asked the court to isolate ballots cast for the second Dan Sullivan, a retired school teacher, pending a determination of whether voters were confused by his name appearing alongside incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. The department also sought to delay certification of Democrat Mary Peltola's potential win until the issue is resolved.
"State officials carefully designed the ballot to minimize voter confusion," the Alaska attorney general's office wrote, urging the court to dismiss the case with prejudice and allow state officials to conduct the election without federal interference.
The Trump administration has cited a preamble to a 1990s voter-registration law as the basis for its involvement, claiming a duty to protect election integrity. It has also issued subpoenas and announced a criminal investigation related to the ballot controversy.
Peltola has denied any involvement in the placement of the second Sullivan on the ballot. The New York Times reported that internal communications suggested her campaign may have helped recruit the candidate, a claim Peltola's campaign disputes.
Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, who announced a state probe after the Times story, condemned the ballot's inclusion of the second Sullivan, though the Alaska Supreme Court previously ruled the candidate met legal requirements to remain on the ballot.
"Imagine if the federal executive could pluck a few words like 'election integrity' from some statutory preamble and, on that basis alone, bend the machinery of state elections to his will, preemptively blocking certification of a U.S. Senate election to protect his preferred candidate from defeat," the American Civil Liberties Union wrote in a filing urging dismissal.
The lawsuit has drawn unusual alignment between Peltola's campaign, voting-rights groups, and state officials, all of whom have asked the judge to reject the federal challenge.