Allowing the Trump administration to overturn the results of Alaska’s U.S. Senate race based on alleged voter confusion would set a dangerous precedent for federal interference in future elections, voting experts warned a federal appeals court.
Former Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer and elections specialists with the UCLA Law School’s Saving Democracy Project (SDP) each submitted amicus briefs Friday imploring the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to dismiss the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit demanding that Alaska not certify its Senate race if the incumbent Republican loses.
The Trump administration took the highly unusual step of suing to block certification of Alaska’s Senate race before Election Day, saying the presence of a far-flung candidate with a name similar to Sen. Dan Sullivan confused voters. The lawsuit was part of the Trump administration’s broader attempts to subvert states’ constitutional authority to manage elections before midterm votes begin.
“Prominent election law experts from across the political spectrum have unanimously derided this lawsuit brought by the United States,” reads the SDP brief, led by election law professor Richard Hasen. “This Court should send a quick and clear message to the federal government and the country that the State of Alaska, and Alaska alone, has the right to certify the winner of its election.”
The winner of Alaska’s U.S. Senate race has not yet been decided, but Democratic candidate Mary Peltola currently leads Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan in votes.
A district court dismissed the DOJ’s lawsuit on November 1, and the DOJ immediately asked the federal appeals court to intervene. The DOJ has not yet filed a brief outlining its legal argument for its authority to require Alaska to void votes cast for long-shot candidate Dan J. Sullivan.
According to Richer and SDP, there is no legal basis for the DOJ’s requests.
Richer pointed out that the state had already settled the issue of the two Sullivans, with a state trial court ruling that Sen. Sullivan’s namesake could remain on the ballot, which the Alaska Supreme Court upheld.
The state Division of Elections clearly distinguished the two Sullivans on the ballot, labeling Sen. Sullivan an incumbent Republican. Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system further alleviates voter confusion by allowing people to choose multiple candidates and rank them in order of preference. Peltola’s lead is currently larger than the vote count of both Sullivans combined.
“The machinery of state election law worked as intended,” Richer’s brief reads. “There is no reason for the federal government to challenge this result, nor for a federal court to override it. »
Richer also argued that state courts addressed the issue well before the election began, which he said is the appropriate time to intervene.
“It is significant not only that these cases were decided in state courts, but also that they occurred at the ballot access stage, not on the eve of an election or at the time of certification,” Richer wrote. “This approach is intuitive: once the election is over, it is no longer possible for any court to determine why voters may have voted for one candidate over another, whether due to confusion or any other reason. »
The SDP brief places the DOJ lawsuit in the context of a “much larger and troubling pattern” of repeated attempts by the Trump administration to undermine states’ authority over elections.
In its brief, SDP invokes the major issues doctrine, which requires clear congressional authorization for executive actions that have a significant impact on national policy.
He also argues that the court is required to dismiss the case under the doctrine of laches, under which the DOJ’s request should be dismissed given that it unreasonably waited until after the election season to file suit.
“Laches is of particular importance in the electoral context, where untimely election litigation can undermine voter confidence in the electoral process and the justice system, disrupt the election administration process, and potentially even reverse or determine election results,” the document states.
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