Judge dismisses DOJ bid to delay Alaska Senate certification

A federal judge on November 1 dismissed the Justice Department’s lawsuit seeking to delay certification of Alaska’s U.S. Senate election if incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan loses, ruling that the department had not proposed a workable remedy that could preserve ballot secrecy. U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason said ballots already cast had been commingled and could not be traced to individual voters. The Justice Department had asked the court to set aside ballots marked for Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired teacher whose name resembles the senator’s, and investigate whether those voters intended to support the incumbent. The lawsuit sought to block certification if Dan Sullivan lost and votes for Daniel J. Sullivan could have changed the outcome. Gleason found that the government had not shown how ballots could be separated or voter intentions investigated without compromising the secret ballot. She also cited the difficulty of imposing a major change to election procedures so close to voting. The ruling dismissed the case without prejudice, denied the Justice Department permission to amend its complaint again and deemed its request for discovery moot, according to one account of the...