Trump administration sues to block Alaska’s US Senate election result if Peltola wins

This article is developing and will be updated.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed suit against the Alaska Division of Elections late Thursday, seeking to block the division from certifying the result of the state’s U.S. Senate election if the Democratic challenger, Mary Peltola, wins.

Peltola is the leading opponent to incumbent Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, and polls show her with a small lead over Sullivan, but the race also includes two other candidates — Republicans Gerald Heikes of Palmer and Dan J. Sullivan of Petersburg.

In the complaint, the Department of Justice claims that Dan J. Sullivan’s candidacy is “frivolous,” and was intended solely to confuse voters and benefit Peltola. 

Until there is an investigation to determine the extent of that confusion, the Department of Justice argues, Alaska should not be permitted to certify the result of the ongoing Senate election.

Legal experts immediately dismissed the federal argument as bunk. 

Under the U.S. Constitution, states have authority over their own elections. The federal claim is based on the preamble to the National Voter Registration Act, which states in part that the law is intended “to protect the integrity of the electoral process.”

In an immediate analysis posted online, Notre Dame Law School election law professor Derek Muller said, “the legal argument is one of the worst ones I’ve ever seen.”

In addition to being poorly argued, it was poorly written, he said, noting that one paragraph is missing a verb that would ask the court to take action.

Libby Bakalar is a former Alaska state elections attorney who frequently speaks against the Trump administration. On social media Friday morning, she said the federal argument “is laughably bad, almost to the point of sanctionably frivolous. Watching MAGA on the ropes like this in court up here is a sad and scary sight.”

Reached by email Friday morning, Dan J. Sullivan declined immediate comment, saying the lawsuit came as a surprise and he was still analyzing it. 

The Beacon contacted the Division of Elections and Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom early Friday morning but has not yet received a response.

In numerous prior interviews, Dan J. Sullivan has said that his candidacy was motivated by dissatisfaction with Sen. Sullivan, and that he is not linked to the Democratic Party or Peltola’s campaign.

Democratic officials have said the same thing.

But that hasn’t stopped President Donald Trump and Sen. Sullivan — as well as other Republicans — from accusing both Peltola and Petersburg Sullivan of fraud.