Alaska officials ask judge to reject Trump administration’s ‘impossible’ request to overturn Senate votes

Alaska’s Republican-led state government on Saturday implored a federal judge to permanently dismiss the Trump administration’s lawsuit that seeks to block certification of Alaska’s Senate race if Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan loses.

“The United States’ opposition provides no reason for this Court to further consider this meritless lawsuit,” the filing says, adding that “the relief sought is inappropriate and even impossible given the vital right of Alaska voters to ballot secrecy.”

The Alaska officials’ filing comes just three days before Election Day and the judge is expected to rule soon on whether to dismiss the lawsuit or move forward with it.

The Trump administration claimed that Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign was involved in recruiting a retired teacher with the same name as Sullivan to run in the race, creating confusion that it said would unfairly take away votes intended for the incumbent president. Peltola has denied the allegations.

The Trump administration filed a lawsuit Oct. 22 against local election officials, arguing that the results of the competitive Senate race should not be certified unless Sen. Dan S. Sullivan is declared the winner.

Alaska officials on Saturday criticized the legal basis on which the Trump administration claimed it had standing to intervene in the election, with election certification left to the discretion of states.

The filing says the Alaska Supreme Court approved second Sullivan’s name on the ballot months ago and adds that “state officials carefully designed the ballot to minimize voter confusion.”

Alaska officials also took aim at the Justice Department’s proposal to “separate” ballots ranking Dan J. Sullivan, writing, “this unexplained idea makes no sense.”

“Regardless of how the ballots are physically stored, it will be easy to know which ballots rank Daniel J.,” the filing states. “If the United States means something different – ​​as it appears to – its proposal for ballot segregation is both disturbing and impossible. »

The Alaska Attorney General’s Office asked the judge to “immediately dismiss this lawsuit with prejudice and allow state officials to conduct the general election – including the counting and certification – without undue federal interference.”

The Trump administration amended its complaint this week to cite new reports from The New York Times, which claimed that Peltola’s campaign was involved in the recruitment of Dan J. Sullivan and that Peltola herself was aware of the situation. The Times article cites a former campaign manager who later tried to recant her statement.

At a rally Friday night, Peltola told a crowd of her supporters that she was “deeply offended by these accusations that she was involved in someone else’s candidacy.”

“I want fewer candidates in the primary. I’m not looking to solicit more competition,” Peltola said, adding that she “doesn’t need any help” to defeat Sen. Dan S. Sullivan.

Sen. Dan S. Sullivan took aim at Peltola in an interview with Fox News on Saturday, saying “there’s no way Peltola doesn’t know” about Dan J. Sullivan’s recruitment plan.

“It’s deception. But at worst, it’s contempt for us Alaskans,” he said. “Think about what they’ve done. They’re trying to make sure Alaskans throw away their vote.”