Federal Judge Dismisses DOJ Lawsuit Seeking to Delay Alaska Senate Election Certification

A federal judge in Alaska dismissed the Justice Department's lawsuit seeking to delay certification of the state's U.S. Senate election results, dealing a setback to the Trump administration's effort to intervene in the state's election process.

A federal judge dismissed the Justice Department's lawsuit seeking to delay certification of Alaska's Senate election results.

U.S. District Judge Sharon L. Gleason dismissed the case on November 1, rejecting the department's request to prevent Alaska from certifying the results while federal authorities investigated possible voter confusion involving two candidates with similar names.

The lawsuit concerned Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and another candidate, Daniel J. Sullivan, who was also running for the Senate seat.

The Justice Department argued that the similarity in their names could confuse voters and affect the election outcome.

Federal prosecutors sought to delay certification to allow time for an investigation into ballots cast for Daniel J. Sullivan.

Gleason questioned both the legal basis and the practicality of the department's request. She wrote that the Justice Department had failed to provide a workable plan for identifying the ballots in question while preserving voter secrecy.

“The US 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 wrote.

The dismissal marked another legal setback for the administration's effort to challenge aspects of state election procedures.

The Justice Department indicated that it intended to appeal the ruling.