Judge Throws Out Trump Election Lawsuit in Alaska Over the Rival Who Shares Senator Sullivan's Name
U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason in Anchorage dismissed on Sunday the administration's suit seeking to block Alaska from certifying a loss by Sen. Dan Sullivan if votes for a same-name rival could have changed the outcome, Reuters reported.
A federal judge on Sunday threw out a Trump administration lawsuit seeking to block Alaska from certifying a loss by Republican Senator Dan Sullivan in the Nov. 3 election if votes for a rival who shares his name could have changed the outcome, Reuters reported on Nov. 1.
The ruling, by U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason in Anchorage, was the latest blow to President Donald Trump's effort to boost the federal government's role in elections, Reuters reported. Elections in the United States are administered by the states under the U.S. Constitution, a division of authority that has run through the administration's series of election lawsuits this fall.
The Alaska case grew out of an unusual ballot question. Federal prosecutors are investigating whether aides to Democratic challenger Mary Peltola helped recruit a retired schoolteacher, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., to run because he shares a name with the Republican incumbent, Senator Dan S. Sullivan, Reuters reported in its Sunday campaign file. Thirty-five Senate seats and all 435 House seats are on Tuesday's ballot, and Republicans hold a 53-47 Senate majority — which is why a single Alaska seat, and the names on its ballot, drew a federal lawsuit two days before Election Day.
