Alaska's Republican-run state government urged a federal judge on Saturday to dismiss a Trump administration lawsuit to stop the certification of a possible Democratic win in that state's pivotal U.S. Senate race, writing that there is “no reason for this Court to entertain this meritless lawsuit any longer.”
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Court → urge → lawsuit
The scathing filing from the state's attorney general's office comes as U.S. District Court Judge Sharon L. Gleason set a deadline of Saturday for arguments over whether she should dismiss the lawsuit without even a hearing.
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she → come → hearing
The complaint from the U.S. Department of Justice has been roundly criticized by election law experts and demands that the judge halt certification of a possible win by Democrat Mary Peltola until it is determined whether voters were confused by the presence of a second candidate on the ballot with the same name as her main rival, Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.
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voters → criticize → rival
The Department of Justice on Friday added a request that the judge separate all ballots showing votes for the second Dan Sullivan until it can be determined whether voters were fooled into wasting their votes for a spoiler candidate.
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voters → add → candidate
In its Saturday filing, Alaska said this was "both disturbing and impossible.”
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this → say → filing
It added there would be no way to do that without violating voter privacy.
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It → add → privacy
Trump has also demanded that Peltola be prosecuted after The New York Times this week reported that internal texts and posts appear to show the Democrats' campaign was involved in recruiting the second Sullivan, a retired school teacher in the remote fishing village of Petersburg, onto the ballot.
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campaign → demand → ballot
But the state filing notes that the two Sullivans are distinguished from each other on the ballot — the senator is listed as a Republican and the incumbent, while the other simply as “Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.”
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senator → note → Jr.
“State officials carefully designed the ballot to minimize voter confusion,” Alaska officials wrote.
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officials → design → confusion
“The Court should immediately dismiss this lawsuit with prejudice and allow state officials to conduct the general election — including ballot counting and certification — free from unwarranted federal interference.”
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officials → dismiss → interference
The Trump administration argued that a preamble to the 1990s law governing voter registration gave it the responsibility for ensuring states maintained the “integrity” of federal elections.
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states → argue → elections
It has said it’s simply trying to combat fraud by preventing the Democrat from being declared the victor in a race that could determine which party controls the U.S. Senate.
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party → say → Senate
The Department of Justice issued a wave of subpoenas and announced it was conducting a criminal investigation in the case as the administration has stepped up its use of its legal powers to support Trump's side in the midterm election.
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administration → issue → election
Peltola has denied involvement in the presence of the second Sullivan on the ballot.
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Peltola → deny → ballot
The Times report was based on interviews with her former campaign manager, texts and contributions from a political group backing Peltola to an out-of-state Democratic consultant who recruited the second Sullivan.
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who → base → Sullivan
Alaska’s Republican governor, Mike Dunleavy, who announced a state probe into the situation after the Times story, has condemned the placement of the second Sullivan on the ballot.
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who → announce → ballot
The Alaska Supreme Court ruled this summer that the second candidate fulfilled all legal requirements to stay on.
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candidate → rule → requirements
The state government’s filing on Saturday says that the new revelations about the possible role of Peltola’s campaign don’t change the fact that he’s legally on the ballot.
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he → say → ballot
“Not every wrong can be righted in federal court,” the state wrote.
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state → right → court
Peltola's campaign and voting rights groups also have urged Gleason to dismiss the case, putting them in unusual alignment with Alaska state officials.
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groups → urge → officials
“Imagine if the federal executive could pluck a few words like ‘election integrity’ from some statutory preamble and, on that basis alone, bend the machinery of state elections to his will, preemptively blocking certification of a U.S. Senate election to protect his preferred candidate from defeat and then subjecting voters to a law-enforcement-led inquest about who they ‘really’ supported,” the American Civil Liberties Union wrote in a filing urging the lawsuit's dismissal.
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Union → imagine → dismissal
“Imagine that world and ask whether it is what the Framers wanted or precisely what they most feared.”
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they → imagine → what
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