Judge Dismisses Suit on Alaska Race    11/02 06:16

   

   JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) -- A federal judge on Sunday dismissed a Justice 
Department lawsuit seeking to block certification of Alaska's U.S. Senate race 
if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses, the latest development in a ballot 
controversy that has roiled the final days of one of the nation's most closely 
watched races.

   Sullivan, an ally of President Donald Trump, faces Democrat Mary Peltola, a 
former congresswoman, in a race that is among a handful expected to determine 
which party controls the Senate for the final two years of Trump's term.

   Tuesday's ranked-choice election also includes two candidates who have done 
little campaigning, one of whom shares the incumbent's name. It was that 
candidate's presence on the ballot that prompted Trump to push for the lawsuit 
out of fear he would siphon votes from the incumbent.

   Shortly after the ruling, the Justice Department filed a notice that it 
would appeal: "Alaskan voters deserve a fair election, not to be misled in an 
attempt to rig outcomes," a department spokesperson said in a statement.

   The lawsuit, filed less than two weeks before the election and as early 
voting was underway, called for an investigation into whether votes for retired 
teacher Dan J. Sullivan were intended for the senator. The state said the case 
lacked merit and argued there would be no way to determine that without 
violating voter privacy.

   U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason said the relief the federal 
government sought was "infeasible" because many voters have already cast their 
ballots.

   "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.

   Peltola's campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee argued 
that the case lacked any legal basis and amounted to election interference.

   "Today's ruling is a victory for democracy and a clear message to Donald 
Trump and Senate Republicans: No one, no matter how powerful, can toss out free 
and fair elections just because they don't like the result," said the 
committee's executive director, Devan Barber.

   Peltola's campaign hailed the ruling. "No sham investigation or baseless 
lawsuit from a weaponized Department of Justice is going to stop Alaskans from 
electing Mary on Nov. 3 so she can lower costs for Alaska's working families," 
the campaign said in a statement, alluding to a federal probe disclosed after 
President Donald Trump said last week that he wanted Peltola prosecuted for the 
scheme.

   Attorneys for the state did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

   Senator says he expects 'to lose a lot of votes' to the other Dan Sullivan 

   The senator and his allies, including Trump, for months have portrayed Dan 
J. Sullivan as a sham candidate intent on confusing voters and helping Peltola.

   Earlier Sunday, Sen. Sullivan told CNN that he thought the presence of the 
second Sullivan on the ballot would affect the election.

   "I'm sure I'm going to lose a lot of votes to that trickery," he said.

   He also said he doubted claims by Peltola that she had no idea her top 
political aides were involved in recruiting Dan J. Sullivan to run as a way to 
confuse voters.

   "There is no way this went on for a year that they weren't informing her," 
Sullivan told CNN's "State of the Union." "She got caught lying, and she's 
still lying to the Alaskan people, the media, to all of us."

   In the week before Election Day, The New York Times reported that Peltola's 
campaign was involved in efforts to recruit the second Sullivan. Shortly after 
entering the race in June, Dan J. Sullivan said he'd had no contact with her 
campaign about running. He has not responded to multiple messages over the past 
few days.

   His recent public absence prompted a social media post Sunday by the 
president: "The Fake Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr., has DISAPPEARED! Nobody can find 
him, including Law Enforcement."

   Peltola's campaign responded to the Times story by saying it had no 
involvement in the campaigns for either Sullivan: "I am not interested in 
tricking voters," Peltola said during a recent campaign event.

   In its statement indicating its plans to appeal, the Justice Department said 
the federal judge dismissed the case on procedural grounds but did not dispute 
the government's argument that Dan J. Sullivan entered the race "as a frivolous 
candidate to confuse voters."

   Multiple investigations look into whether Dan J. Sullivan was recruited as a 
decoy candidate 

   State courts, including the Alaska Supreme Court, rejected an earlier 
Republican-backed effort to block the retired teacher from the August open 
primary ballot on which he appeared as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., with no party 
affiliation. The senator was listed as Dan S. Sullivan, Republican and 
incumbent.

   Both Sullivans appear the same way on the general election ballot. Peltola 
placed first in the primary, followed by the senator. Dan J. Sullivan received 
about 2.5% of the primary vote, but that was enough to finish within the top 
four and qualify for the Nov. 3 ranked-choice election.

   Attorneys for the Alaska Department of Law represented state elections 
officials in the case and asked Gleason, who was appointed by former Democratic 
President Barack Obama, to toss the lawsuit. They filed a scathing response to 
the federal government's complaint, calling it "meritless."

   Alaska also said the state had taken "significant steps" to distinguish the 
two Sullivans on the ballot. Voters who still might be confused could ask for 
help or look up candidate biographies and other information in 
state-distributed election pamphlets.

   Republicans, including ones working with Trump, also have a long history of 
backing decoy candidates in elections. The governor, a Republican, has ordered 
an investigation and suggested he may not certify a possible Peltola victory.

   In her ruling, Gleason wrote that the Trump administration's attempt to 
block certification ran counter to the Constitution, which gives states the 
authority to run elections. She also cited the Supreme Court's Purcell 
principle, which holds that federal courts should generally not change election 
rules too close to an election.

   Kristen Clarke, general counsel of the NAACP, which had filed a brief 
supporting the case's dismissal, called the judge's decision "a big win for the 
voters in Alaska."

   "The law is clear, and the DOJ's case was a baseless, eleventh-hour attempt 
to hijack this midterm election," she said.

   On Thursday, the Justice Department escalated a criminal investigation over 
the presence of Dan J. Sullivan on the Alaska ballot, issuing a raft of new 
grand jury subpoenas, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated 
Press. The FBI also has begun contacting people who donated to him, some of 
whom told the AP that the agents were asking if they had been misled about 
which candidate they were supporting.