Federal judge throws out Justice Department bid to block certification of Alaska's US Senate race; the department files notice of appeal

A federal judge has dismissed the Trump administration's lawsuit seeking to block certification of Alaska's US Senate election, two days before polling day. This report draws on NPR, AP (in copy published by KCRA) and the Anchorage Daily News (ADN). ## The ruling In a ruling released on Sunday, US District Judge Sharon Gleason, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, found that the federal government did not have legal standing to bring the case, NPR and the ADN report. The ADN says she dismissed the suit without a hearing, after agreeing to consider it on an expedited basis. The lawsuit asked the court to stop state officials from certifying the result so that investigators could examine whether voters had been confused by two candidates with similar names on the ranked-choice ballot, NPR reports. Filed less than two weeks before the election, with early voting under way, it called for ballots cast for Dan J. Sullivan to be segregated and investigated to establish whether they had been intended for the senator, AP and the ADN report. The state argued the case lacked merit and that voters' intentions could not be established without violating their privacy, AP reports. Gleason wrote that the relief sought was "infeasible" because many people had already voted and their ballots had been mixed together so that they could no longer be matched to individual voters, AP reports. "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, according to NPR and the ADN. "More fundamentally, the United States provides no workable plan as to how it proposes to segregate ballots cast for Daniel J. Sullivan on Election Day and then conduct a court-ordered unspecified 'investigation' of those ballots in a manner that would preserve voter secrecy," she wrote, AP reports. She also found that the attempt to block certification ran counter to the Constitution, which gives states the authority to run elections, and cited the Supreme Court's Purcell principle, under which federal courts should generally not change election rules close to an election, AP reports. Ordering ballots to be set aside for a future investigation "would likely result in voter 'confusion and consequent incentive to remain away from the polls'", she wrote, according to the ADN. ## The appeal The Justice Department filed a notice of its intent to appeal hours after the ruling, the ADN reports, and AP says the department filed a notice shortly after the ruling saying it was appealing. NPR had reported that the department was planning to appeal. "Alaskan voters deserve a fair election, not to be misled in an attempt to rig outcomes," department spokesperson Kiersten Pels said, according to NPR; AP carries the same statement from a department spokesperson. ## The two Sullivans President Donald Trump said he ordered the lawsuit because two of the four Senate candidates on the ballot have similar names, NPR reports. Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher from Petersburg with no party affiliation, appeared on the August open primary ballot as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., while the senator was listed as Dan S. Sullivan, and both appear the same way on the general election ballot, AP reports. State courts, including the Alaska Supreme Court, rejected Republican-backed efforts to keep him off the primary ballot, AP and NPR report. He won about 2.5% of the primary vote, enough to finish in the top four and qualify for Tuesday's ranked-choice election, according to AP. The senator and his allies, including Trump, have for months portrayed Dan J. Sullivan as a sham candidate meant to confuse voters and help Peltola, AP reports. The New York Times reported last week that Peltola's campaign staff and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee had helped recruit him, the ADN reports. Those are allegations: NPR says it has not independently confirmed the Times report, and Peltola has denied any involvement. Dan J. Sullivan said in June that he had had no contact with the Peltola campaign about running, AP reports. The state argued that it had taken "significant steps" to distinguish the two Sullivans on the ballot, and that ranked-choice voting lets voters rank both of them, so that a vote for one would pass to the other if he were eliminated, AP reports. ## The investigations The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into the same-named candidates and has issued new grand jury subpoenas, AP reports, citing a person familiar with the matter. FBI agents have travelled to Petersburg and other places to ask donors to Dan J. Sullivan whether they had been misled about which candidate they were supporting, the ADN and AP report; multiple donors confirmed there had been no confusion, according to the ADN. Experts have said the Times' revelations do not appear to show unlawful behaviour, the ADN reports. The US Attorney for Alaska said at a press conference on Friday that the civil lawsuit "seeks to protect ballots, nothing more for the moment, just protect the status quo", according to the ADN. Alaska's Republican governor, Mike Dunleavy, has ordered an investigation by the state Department of Public Safety and has indicated the result may not be certified depending on its outcome, NPR and the ADN report. "If we find out there's wrongdoing, and if that means that the certification then is stopped or changed, then that's what happens," he told NewsNation, according to NPR. The state Department of Law's position in the lawsuit appears to run contrary to the governor's, the ADN reports. ## Reactions "DOJ's attempt to throw out Alaska's election results before a single ballot was counted was lawless from the start, and the court saw it for exactly what it was," said Sophia Lin Lakin, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Voting Rights Project, NPR reports. Peltola's campaign said: "No sham investigation or baseless lawsuit from a weaponized Department of Justice is going to stop Alaskans from electing Mary on November 3rd so she can lower costs for Alaska's working families," according to the ADN. Speaking to CNN before the ruling, Senator Sullivan said: "I will accept the election results," the ADN reports, and NPR says he said he would accept them whether he won or lost. More than 86,700 Alaskans had voted early, according to the latest figures from the state's Division of Elections, NPR reports. The race is the most expensive on record in Alaska, the ADN reports. Voting ends on Tuesday 3 November.