Attorney General Todd Blanche on Oct. 25 defended suing to pre-challenge the results of the race to represent Alaska in the U.S. Senate.
“We’re not saying that the federal government is going to decide who the next senator from Alaska is,” Blanche said during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” program.
“What we’re asking the court to do is make sure that after the election, if it’s clear that there was confusion, if it’s clear—and that’s for a court to decide at a later date if there’s litigation—but if it’s clear that there was confusion, and that confusion led to an unjust, improper result that is not the will of the Alaskan voters, we want to make sure that the Alaskan system and the Alaskan state courts and the Alaskan electoral process can understand that in a way that lets them do the right thing.”
The Trump administration on Friday sued state officials. The lawsuit requested a federal judge order officials not certify the election until an investigation into the vote count was completed, in the event incumbent Sen. Daniel S. Sullivan (R-Alaska) loses and if adding votes received by independent candidate Daniel J. Sullivan to the senator’s vote total would have resulted in the senator’s win.
“Should Alaska certify any electoral results tainted by the inclusion on the ballot of Daniel J. Sullivan … the State and its officers will fail in its obligation to protect the integrity of its election,” the suit stated.
It cited federal law requiring states to protect the integrity of the election process and a Supreme Court decision stating that states have an interest in excluding frivolous or fraudulent candidates.
Some Republicans have alleged that Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired schoolteacher, is running to help Mary Peltola, the Democratic candidate for the seat, win. State election official Carol Beecher said over the summer that Daniel J. Sullivan was ineligible to run because he did not file his candidacy in good faith, but Alaska courts ordered officials to include him on the ballot. The retired teacher has denied the allegations
Critics of the lawsuit included Peltola and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).
“Alaskans don’t need any help voting for their preferred candidates, and the State of Alaska has already handled this by clearly distinguishing the candidates on this year’s ballot,” Murkowski wrote in a post on X after the suit was lodged. “The Department of Justice should never have filed this lawsuit.”
State officials have not responded to a request for comment and have not yet filed any filings in response to the legal complaint.
Blanche, asked on Sunday on CNN whether the government was preparing to try to overturn an election, said it is not.
“We’re not laying any groundwork for the president to do that,” he said. “The groundwork that we are laying is for Alaska, for the state of Alaska, if it becomes an issue after the election, will have the ability to determine whether there was confusion that violates the law in determining who the senator should be.”
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