Federal judge blocks DOJ bid to pause Alaska Senate vote

A federal judge dismissed the Trump administration's legal challenge seeking to halt the certification of Alaska's Senate election results.

U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason issued the ruling on Sunday. She determined that the federal government does not have the legal authority to bring the suit. The case relied on the preamble of the National Voter Registration Act.

The Justice Department sought an order to prevent state officials from certifying the vote. The goal was to allow for an investigation into whether voters were confused by the presence of two candidates with similar names on the ranked-choice ballot.

Gleason concluded that the requested court order would likely infringe upon Alaskan voters' right to a secret ballot. She noted that the United States failed to explain how its relief would fix the alleged injury while keeping the ballot secret.

"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. The judge was nominated by former President Barack Obama.

The Justice Department plans to appeal the decision. Spokesperson Kiersten Pels told NPR that Alaskan voters deserve a fair election. "Not to be misled in an attempt to rig outcomes," Pels added.

President Trump said he ordered the lawsuit because Sen. Dan Sullivan, the Republican incumbent, shares a name with Daniel Sullivan Jr. Sullivan Jr. is an independent candidate. The two names appeared together on the ballot for the four Senate candidates.

Alaska's Republican Party previously tried to remove Sullivan Jr. from the ballot in state court. The Alaska Supreme Court rejected that effort in June, ruling that Sullivan Jr. had the right to run. Republican claims that Democrats supported Sullivan Jr. to spoil the incumbent's chances have persisted in the race.

A report in The New York Times detailed efforts by Democratic campaign operatives to recruit Sullivan Jr. NPR has not independently confirmed those details. The report drew new attention to the dispute over the candidacy.

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, ordered an investigation into the race. He indicated that the state might delay certification depending on the investigation's outcome. "If we find out there's wrongdoing, and if that means that the certification then is stopped or changed, then that's what happens," Dunleavy said in an interview with NewsNation on Oct. 30.

U.S. Attorney Michael Heyman stated at a press conference in Anchorage on Oct. 30 that the Justice Department is conducting an ongoing criminal probe. The Democratic candidate, former Rep. Mary Peltola, has denied any involvement in the recruitment of Sullivan Jr.

Voting rights groups that intervened to defend Alaska against the lawsuit praised the ruling. Sophia Lin Lakin, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Voting Rights Project, called the Department of Justice's attempt lawless. "It was a reckless waste of taxpayer money aimed at silencing hundreds of thousands of Alaska voters," Lakin said in a statement.