Obama judge tosses Alaska Senate case
The Justice Department recently sued over Alaska’s questionable Senate election, trying to block the certification of the state’s Senate results if Republican incumbent Dan S. Sullivan loses. Even The New York Times admitted that Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign recruited Dan J. Sullivan to run as a spoiler candidate to confuse voters and siphon votes from the real Sullivan. Alaska uses a ranked-choice election system, which opens the door to this voter-confusion tactic. On Sunday, however, an Obama-appointed judge rejected the DOJ’s bid, arguing that the Justice Department didn’t explain how it planned to address the issue without compromising ballot secrecy. The DOJ appealed the ruling to the San Francisco-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
The Justice Department recently sued over Alaska’s questionable Senate election, trying to block the certification of the state’s Senate results if Republican incumbent Dan S. Sullivan loses. Even The New York Times admitted that Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign recruited Dan J. Sullivan to run as a spoiler candidate to confuse voters and siphon votes from the real Sullivan. Alaska uses a ranked-choice election system, which opens the door to this voter-confusion tactic. On Sunday, however, an Obama-appointed judge rejected the DOJ’s bid, arguing that the Justice Department didn’t explain how it planned to address the issue without compromising ballot secrecy. The DOJ appealed the ruling to the San Francisco-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.