Judge considers whether to overrule Alaska’s lieutenant governor on candidate’s eligibility

An Anchorage Superior Court judge may rule by mid-October on whether or not Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom acted correctly when she restored Republican state House candidate Jose Tagle to November’s general election ballot.

In an order signed Tuesday, Judge Josie Garton declined to promptly overturn Dahlstrom’s decision but left the door open for subsequent action on a legal challenge filed by the Alaska Democratic Party against Dahlstrom and the Division of Elections.

The delay means absentee voters in House District 22 — where Tagle is running against Democratic incumbent Rep. Ted Eischeid — are receiving ballots with Tagle’s name. 

If Tagle is ruled ineligible, any votes for him will be thrown out. 

Dahlstrom disqualified Tagle on Aug. 31 for failing to submit an accurate Public Officer Financial Disclosure form on time. She also disqualified Republican gubernatorial candidate Treg Taylor at the same time, for the same reason.

Four days later, Dahlstrom reversed herself, restoring Tagle and Taylor to the ballot after a Department of Law review found forms filed by dozens of other candidates also had problems. 

A subsequent review by the Alaska Beacon found many of those problems were illusory or minor.

The Alaska Democratic Party has not challenged the decision that restored Taylor to the ballot, but it has continued to fight Tagle’s eligibility.

The party filed its initial lawsuit in July, arguing that the division should have disqualified Tagle when he submitted a blank form. The division regularly disqualifies candidates who file no form. 

The Division of Elections opposed the party’s position, saying the Alaska Public Offices Commission is in charge of certifying whether a form is complete or not, and the time to disqualify Tagle would be after the primary. 

Garton agreed, ruling on Aug. 14 that Tagle had 30 days to amend his form and thus the Division of Elections acted correctly by keeping Tagle on the primary ballot.

But Tagle didn’t fix his form until after the 30-day deadline, and Garton’s August ruling didn’t address what would happen if the Division of Elections approved his general-election candidacy.

The Alaska Democratic Party asked in September for Garton to issue an order enforcing Tagle’s removal from the general election ballot, but in last week’s order, Garton deferred.

She said the party’s post-primary filing raises different issues than the lawsuit it filed before the primary, and therefore, both the party and the Division of Elections need to exchange new written arguments and possibly hold new oral arguments as well.

The Democratic Party and the Division of Elections have asked Garton to rule no later than Oct. 16; she has not yet approved that request. 

Garton’s ruling may not be the final word — in an early-September news conference, Gov. Mike Dunleavy said that any decision on candidacy may have to be decided by the Alaska Supreme Court.

Early, in-person voting begins Oct. 19. Election Day is Nov. 3.