Federal judge Sharon Gleason on Sunday dismissed the United States Justice Department lawsuit that sought to block certification of Alaska’s Senate race if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses.
Gleason ruled two days before the November 3 midterm election, removing an immediate federal-court threat to Alaska’s certification process in one of the races that could decide control of the Senate.
Her 20-page order dismissed the case without prejudice and denied permission to amend again, according to the Washington Examiner’s account of the ruling.
Gleason found that the government had not established standing, because it could not show that a court could redress the injury it claimed.
She wrote that the relief the United States sought was “infeasible” because many voters had already cast ballots and those ballots have been separated from identifying information and commingled.
“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.
“The Court cannot grant the United States the relief it seeks,” Gleason added, finding that the proposed remedy would violate Alaskans’ right to a secret ballot.
“Requiring the segregation of ballots cast by voters for Daniel J. Sullivan so that these voters can be further investigated by law enforcement is not a remedy that this Court can or should order,” she wrote.
Why the court rejected the case
Justice Department lawyers had argued that votes “impacted by voter confusion” should be set aside, because the Republican incumbent and an independent candidate share the same first and last name.
Alaska, along with Democratic candidate Mary Peltola and Senate Democrats, had asked Gleason to throw out the case, arguing that it failed to state an actionable claim and amounted to interference in a state’s power to run elections.
Gleason rejected the department’s contention that its requested relief would not interfere with Alaska’s election administration.
“These requests certainly involve the time, place, and manner of Alaska’s election, which are the responsibilities of the State, not the executive branch of the federal government,” she wrote.
The two Sullivans on the ballot
Sullivan, an ally of President Donald Trump, faces former Democratic Representative Mary Peltola in one of the country’s most closely watched Senate races, with control of the chamber at stake.
Tuesday’s ranked-choice election also includes retired teacher Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., an independent candidate who shares the incumbent’s name.
On the ballot, the senator is listed as Dan S. Sullivan and marked as a Republican incumbent, while the retired teacher is listed as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., with no party affiliation.
Peltola placed first in that primary, followed by the senator, while Daniel J. Sullivan received about 2.5 percent of the vote, enough to finish in the top four and qualify for the November 3 ranked-choice election.
A New York Times report in the week before Election Day alleged that members of Peltola’s campaign helped recruit the retired teacher to run as a spoiler candidate in an attempt to draw votes away from the senator.
Peltola has insisted she had nothing to do with recruiting the other Sullivan, and her campaign said it “has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign.”
“I am not interested in tricking voters,” Peltola said during a recent campaign event, according to Associated Press reporting.
Sullivan, speaking to CNN on Sunday, said he would accept the election result, while accusing Peltola and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of disrespecting Alaskans.
“I’m going to accept the election results,” Sullivan told CNN, adding that he was confident of winning.
Justice Department to appeal
Alaska can now proceed under its existing ranked-choice rules unless an appellate court intervenes, and voters will choose among four Senate candidates on Tuesday, November 3.
The Justice Department immediately filed notice that it would appeal, USA Today reported, with Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward and US Attorney Michael Heyman filing the notice on Sunday.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which intervened in the lawsuit in support of Alaska, said the judge rebuffed a Justice Department effort to “throw out Alaska’s election results before a single ballot was counted.”
“This administration keeps trying to tilt the midterms, and today (Sunday) it lost again,” the ACLU said.
A separate criminal investigation into whether the second Sullivan was recruited to confuse voters continues, according to Associated Press reporting cited in coverage of the ruling.
