Judge Dismisses DOJ Suit Over Alaska Senate Certification, Justice Department Files Appeal Within Hours

Since Alaska told the court on Saturday, Oct. 31, that the Justice Department's Senate ballot suit was meritless, Judge Sharon Gleason has ruled. On Sunday, Nov. 1, she dismissed the case, and DOJ filed notice that it will appeal to the 9th Circuit.

The ruling came two days before Election Day. Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan is in a tight ranked-choice race with Democrat Mary Peltola.

What the judge ruled

Gleason's order runs 20 pages. She held that the United States "failed to establish the redressability prerequisite for Article III standing." In plain terms, even if DOJ were right about its injury, a court order could not fix it.

The suit asked the court to keep Alaska from certifying results if Sullivan lost, so an investigation could look into whether voters confused him with Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired teacher also on the ballot. It also sought to segregate ballots cast for the second Sullivan.

Gleason said DOJ never explained how that could work. "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," she wrote.

She added that the government "provides no workable plan as to how it proposes to segregate ballots cast for Daniel J. Sullivan on Election Day and then conduct a court-ordered unspecified 'investigation' of those ballots in a manner that would preserve voter secrecy."

Early voting is already underway, and ballots already cast have been commingled so officials cannot trace them to voters. Gleason wrote that requiring segregation so those voters "can be further investigated by law enforcement is not a remedy that this Court can or should order" because it "clearly violate[s] Alaskans' right to a secret ballot."

The order does not decide whether the second Sullivan entered the race to confuse voters.

DOJ's response

A DOJ spokesperson said the court "dismissed the case on procedural grounds but did not dispute the argument of the United States that Daniel J. Sullivan (a/k/a Decoy Dan) entered the race as a frivolous candidate to confuse voters."

Spokesperson Kiersten Pels said: "Alaskan voters deserve a fair election, not to be misled in an attempt to rig outcomes."

Trump said on Oct. 23 that he personally ordered the suit. The department amended it on Thursday, Oct. 29, to add a Supremacy Clause claim and material from a New York Times investigation. That investigation reported that people tied to Peltola's campaign tried to find candidates to draw votes from Sullivan.

On Sunday, Trump attacked Democratic lawyer Marc Elias and others fighting the administration's election-related actions on social media, calling them "CRIMINALS who totally abuse the Laws of our Land." Elias represents Peltola's campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. He called the ruling a "VICTORY."

The underlying dispute

Peltola's campaign denies involvement. It has said it "has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign." Peltola said she is "not interested in tricking voters," though she also told a reporter she had "no idea" whether any staff were involved, according to The Guardian.

Sullivan went further on CNN's "State of the Union." "She's continually lying to the Alaskan people," he said. "And I guarantee you, she's lying right now." He also said: "I'm sure I'm going to lose a lot of votes to that trickery."

The U.S. Attorney for Alaska said Friday that criminal and civil investigations are ongoing into Daniel J. Sullivan's decision to run. No charges have been announced. Alaska's Republican governor, Mike Dunleavy, has also ordered an investigation, according to NPR.

The Washington Post reported that a Republican super PAC boosted two Senate candidates in the Alaska primaries who did not live in the state and praised them as "progressives" like Bernie Sanders. The report, relayed by The Guardian, is cited by Democrats as evidence that both parties have played with the field.

The Alaska Supreme Court ruled in June that Daniel J. Sullivan has the right to run. The state's Republican Party had backed the earlier effort to keep him off the ballot.

Reaction and what Sullivan says he will do

Voting rights groups that helped defend the state welcomed the ruling. Sophia Lin Lakin, director of the ACLU's Voting Rights Project, called the suit "a reckless waste of taxpayer money aimed at silencing hundreds of thousands of Alaska voters." DSCC executive director Devan Barber called the decision "a victory for democracy."

Peltola's campaign said, "No sham investigation or baseless lawsuit from a weaponized Department of Justice is going to stop Alaskans from electing Mary on November 3rd."

Sullivan, asked by CNN's Jake Tapper whether he would accept results only if he won, said: "No, I'm going to accept the election results."

What comes next

DOJ's appeal goes to the 9th Circuit. Voting is Tuesday, Nov. 3, and ranked-choice counting means second-choice rankings for the minor candidates could matter in a close race. Neither Daniel J. Sullivan nor fourth candidate Gerald Heikes is considered to have a chance of winning.

It is unclear whether the 9th Circuit will act before ballots are counted. The U.S. Attorney's investigations into the second Sullivan's candidacy continue regardless of the appeal, and no one has yet been charged.