DOJ's Alaska Senate Race Interference Suit "Won't Go Anywhere"

 

Notre Dame Law School election law professor Derek Muller, writing at Election Law Blog, tells us why the Department of "Justice's" scheme to block the Alaska Senate election result certification if Democrat Mary Peltola wins won't work :

The Department of Justice has filed United States v. Alaska in federal court. The gist of the case is this: there’s a risk of voter confusion from having two Dan Sullivans on the ballot, and the State of Alaska should not be permitted to certify its results “pending an investigation” to determine whether any votes cast for the one Sullivan were meant for another.

The case isn’t yet ripe, obviously, but the Department is pre-suing both to signal to the public that it’s “doing something” and that it’s ready if the result goes against the GOP in the state. And of course it probably would have helped Alaska if the Department thought about weighing in months and months ago, when there was feasibility in assisting with respect to the remedy.

Such factual investigation is essentially impossible (the best evidence that voters preferred one Sullivan over another is how they marked their ballots) and a reason why parties bring ballot access cases before the ballots are printed rather than after, so such a factual caveat is largely meaningless.

But setting aside the factual issue, the legal argument is one of the worst ones I’ve ever seen. It cites the preamble to the National Voter Registration Act–its “findings and purposes”–as the source of law for the claim. That part reads, “The purposes of this chapter are . . . to protect the integrity of the electoral process.” 52 U.S.C. § 20501(b)(3).

The Department excised the “The purposes of this chapter are” language throughout its complaint and replaced it with something not in the statute. For instance, it claims that certifying the result “would violate Defendants’ duties under the NVRA to ‘protect
the integrity of the electoral process.'” That is certainly not what the NVRA does. This language places no “duties” on a state outside of those enumerated in the chapter. And, of course, the Department cannot find any ballot access rules in the chapter.

I also cannot imagine anything some election litigators in the Republican Party might want less than to open this language of the NVRA to freewheeling litigation around the United States in future elections.

Some, in a panic, might react that the Department is trying to deny certification of an election in a state. Of course that’s what the Department is trying to do. But the legal claim is so absurdly thin, there’s essentially no likelihood of success. (I write essentially because, of course, one never knows how one judge or two judges on a panel might react, but I think the Supreme Court will have nothing for this claim.)

In short, like many Department letters over the last few years, it is designed to win the press release rather than the litigation. This one simply takes the form of a complaint... (our emphasis)

The best way to forestall these kinds of risible, un-Constitutional power grabs is for voters to overwhelmingly vote for Democrats -- in Alaska and every other State on every ballot line.  Trying to pull off a coup when you're losing by big margins everywhere in the country isn't something that would seem destined for success, especially with these low-voltage clowns running the show.

BONUS: 

This dumb hack has no power to do that. States don't have to listen to anything he says.

[image or embed]

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm.bsky.social) October 22, 2026 at 4:54 PM

BONUS II:  A pic of Alaska's ballot, showing Sen. Sullivan identified as "incumbent" (4th line):

 

(Photo:  Consigliere Blanche with Trump Crime Family boss at trial for covering up hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, 4/16/24 / Mark Peterson, Pool, AFP via Getty Images)

 

Alaskan Cage Match Bodes Well For Dems

 

The special primary election last month that used a ranked system for voters to indicate their first and second choices for U. S. House of Representatives handed bitter loser and quitter Sarah "Winky" Palin a defeat, and Dem hopeful and Alaskan indigenous woman Mary Peltola a solid win. Palin ran against not only Peltola, but against Nick Begich, a Dem turned Republican, to finish the late troglodyte Bridge-to-Nowhere guy Rep. Don Young's term which ends in January. The current contest is to fill Young's pork barrel Muk Luks for the next two years, and the bitterness on the Rethug side is a joy to behold:

"The GOP is, again, praying for either Palin or Begich to drop out before November but so far, it’s been a fight to the death between the two. A  GOP operative who has managed campaigns in Alaska told The Daily Beast, 'As Palin and Begich beat the fuck out of each other, [Peltola] is going to coast [...] Until Palin and Begich figure this out, it’s going to be problematic.'”  (our emphasis)

May we get a sense of the antagonism between the two Rethug charletans?

"During a press conference in Wasilla, the former governor and vice presidential candidate reportedly said, 'It is time for the GOP to unite, we need to unite behind my candidacy and starting today with Nick Begich withdrawing from this race.' She added that her opponent 'needs to swallow a little pride'and start campaigning for her.

Begich reportedly responded by saying that 'Sarah Palin’s first reaction to adversity is to either quit herself or encourage others to quit [...] And I’m not going to quit on Alaska.' He added, 'Sarah Palin is going to lose again if she stays in this race [...] 'At the end of the day, Alaskans know who Sarah Palin is, and they’re not going to vote for her.'”  (our emphasis)

Indeed they do know the fame-seeking, jet-setting ambitious Palin, who walked away from the governorship and into lucrative speaking and endorsement deals, and they're apparently tired of her schtick. In that sentiment, Alaska is in tune with the rest of America.

If you want to contribute to Mary Peltola's campaign, go here.

Palin Loses Alaska Special Election, Seat Flips To Democrats For Now

 

 

Say buh-bye (for now), Caribou Barbie:

Democrat Mary Peltola won the special election for Alaska’s only U.S. House seat on Wednesday, besting a field that included Republican Sarah Palin, who was seeking a political comeback in the state where she was once governor.

Peltola, who is Yup’ik and turned 49 on Wednesday, will become the first Alaska Native to serve in the House and the first woman to hold the seat. She will serve the remaining months of the late Republican U.S. Rep. Don Young’s term. Young held the seat for 49 years before his death in March.  [snip]

Peltola’s victory, in Alaska’s first statewide ranked choice voting election, is a boon for Democrats, particularly coming off better-than-expected performances in special elections around the country this year following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. She will be the first Democrat to hold the seat since the late U.S. Rep. Nick Begich, who was seeking reelection in 1972 when his plane disappeared. Begich was later declared dead and Young in 1973 was elected to the seat.

Peltola ran as a coalition builder while her two Republican opponents — Palin and Begich’s grandson, also named Nick Begich — at times went after each other. Palin also railed against the ranked voting system, which was instituted by Alaska voters.

All three - Peltola, Palin and Begich - are candidates in the November general election, seeking a two-year term that would start in January.

The results came 15 days after the Aug. 16 election, in line with the deadline for state elections officials to receive absentee ballots mailed from outside the U.S. Ranked choice tabulations took place Wednesday after no candidate won more than 50% of the first choice votes, with state elections officials livestreaming the event. Peltola was in the lead heading into the tabulations, followed by Palin and then Begich.  (our emphasis)

Palin is a toxic candidate in Alaska, even among Republicans:

...A full 50% of those who voted for the Alaska Republican Party’s preferred candidate opted for a Democrat – or no one at all – over Palin.

Of those who voted for Begich, half ranked Palin, the only other Republican on the ballot in the special election, as their second choice. Another 29% ranked Peltola as their second choice. And about 20% did not list a second choice.  (our emphasis)

The fundamentals won't change in November, since all three main candidates are on the ballot.

So, let's repeat the drill in November, Alaskans! 

BONUS:

 

It is a GOOD DAY. pic.twitter.com/7IW4hsWZ2P

— Mary Peltola (@MaryPeltola) September 1, 2022