Judge blocks federal bid to pause Alaska Senate count

U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason dismissed the Trump administration's lawsuit seeking to halt the certification of Alaska's Senate election results. The ruling, issued Sunday, rejects the federal government's effort to block the count if the Republican incumbent, Sen. Dan Sullivan, loses the race.

The Justice Department filed the suit citing the preamble of the National Voter Registration Act. The government asked the court to prevent state officials from certifying results so an investigation could proceed into potential voter confusion. The issue stems from two candidates with similar names appearing on the ranked-choice ballot: incumbent Dan Sullivan and non-partisan Daniel Sullivan Jr.

Judge Gleason, a nominee of former President Barack Obama, determined that the federal government lacks the legal ability to bring this specific type of lawsuit. She wrote that a court order stopping certification would likely violate Alaskan voters' right to a secret ballot.

"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 in the decision.

The Justice Department plans to appeal the ruling. Spokesperson Kiersten Pels told NPR that Alaskan voters deserve a fair election rather than being misled in an attempt to rig outcomes. The agency maintains that the similar names on the ballot created a risk of confusion for voters using the ranked-choice system.

President Trump stated he ordered the lawsuit because of the name similarity between the two Senate candidates. This federal action follows an earlier state court effort by the Alaska Republican Party to keep Sullivan Jr. off the ballot. The Alaska Supreme Court ruled in June that Sullivan Jr. had the right to run as a candidate.

Voting rights groups that intervened to defend the state's election process praised the federal court's decision. Sophia Lin Lakin, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Voting Rights Project, called the Department of Justice's attempt lawless from the start. She described it as a reckless waste of taxpayer money aimed at silencing hundreds of thousands of Alaska voters.

Republican claims that Democratic operatives propped up Sullivan Jr. to spoil the incumbent's chances have overshadowed the race. A New York Times report on these efforts drew new attention to the allegations, though NPR has not independently confirmed the report. Gov. Mike Dunleavy has ordered an investigation into the matter.

Dunleavy indicated that the state's certification of results may depend on the outcome of that investigation. In an Oct. 30 interview with NewsNation, the governor said that if wrongdoing is found, the certification could be stopped or changed. U.S. Attorney Michael Heyman confirmed an ongoing criminal probe by the Justice Department during a press conference in Anchorage on Oct. 30.

Democratic candidate and former Rep. Mary Peltola has denied any involvement in the recruitment of Sullivan Jr. Incumbent Sullivan said in a Sunday interview with CNN that he will accept the election results regardless of the outcome. Over 86,700 Alaskans have cast early ballots, according to the Division of Elections, with voting continuing through Tuesday.