“The Court finds that further amendment would be futile because this Court lacks the authority to order that certain ballots cast by Alaskans be segregated so that federal law enforcement officials can conduct an unspecified investigation of the voters who cast them,” Judge Gleason said.
A federal court has dismissed a Justice Department lawsuit that sought to delay the certification of Alaska’s midterm Senate election if the Republican candidate, incumbent Dan Sullivan, were to lose by a small margin.
According to CNBC, the ruling came just two days before Election Day and two days after the U.S. Attorney for Alaska said the government had opened civil and criminal investigations into non-incumbent Dan J. Sullivan’s decision to run for U.S. Senate.
Mary Peltota, the state’s Democratic nominee, later asked the court to dismiss the Justice Department’s lawsuit.
CNBC notes that the federal government accused Peltota and her campaign of encouraging Dan J. Sullivan, a retired schoolteacher, to run as a Republican. Conservatives claim that his inclusion on the ballot was a political ploy intended to siphon votes away from Sen. Sullivan, a Republican. Peltota’s campaign has denied these allegations.
“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,” Peltola’s campaign said in a Sunday statement. “Alaskans will choose their next U.S. Senator—not Dan Sullivan or his DC allies.”
In her 20-page decision, U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason did not attempt to answer the question as to whether Dan J. Sullivan was trying to sabotage the Republican incumbent. Instead, Gleason found that the federal government failed to establish that it had standing to attempt to postpone the state’s election certification.
Additionally, Gleason questioned the Justice Department’s motive for intervention.
In prior filings, government lawyers indicated that, in the event of a close election favoring Peltota, they would launch an investigation to determine how many votes for Dan J. Sullivan had actually been meant for Sen. Sullivan.
“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,” Gleason wrote.
Gleason noted that early voting in Alaska is already underway; ballots have already been cast, and election secrecy rules would make it difficult, if not impossible, to trace individual ballots back to individual citizens.
“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,” Gleason said.
Gleason also cited a Supreme Court decision that “strongly cautions” lower courts against altering election rules on the veritable eve of an actual election. While the Department of Justice said in court documents that it did not seek to alter the “time, place or manner of Alaska’s election,” Gleason found that it was nonetheless asking for an order “preventing the State
from certifying the election if certain circumstances occur; a court order requiring the State to segregate and preserve certain ballots; and a court order permitting the United States to conduct an investigation into the intent of those voters who cast ballots for Daniel J. Sullivan.”
“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,” Gleason wrote.
Lastly, Gleason said that she would not allow the Justice Department to attempt to amend and refile its lawsuit so close to Election Day.
“The Court finds that further amendment would be futile because this Court lacks the authority to order that certain ballots cast by Alaskans be segregated so that federal law enforcement officials can conduct an unspecified investigation of the voters who cast them,” Gleason said.
Sources
Judge dismisses Alaska Senate election lawsuit; DOJ vows appeal
Judge tosses Trump’s attempt to block Alaska Senate results if GOP incumbent loses
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