A competitive Senate race has gripped the once reliably Republican state of Alaska. If Democratic challenger Mary Peltola wins the election against incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan, it could tip the balance of power in Washington. Attorneys for Peltola and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee have submitted a motion to dismiss a Department of Justice lawsuit filed last week that seeks to block the certification of the election results in Alaska if Sullivan loses. President Trump confirmed on Friday he had ordered the DOJ to file the lawsuit, which alleges that the appearance of another candidate on the ballot with a similar name, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., would mislead voters. The Alaska Supreme Court ruled ahead of the primary that Sullivan Jr., a retired schoolteacher who is running unaffiliated, could appear on the ballot.
The ACLU — on behalf of two Alaska voters, the League of Women Voters of Alaska and Common Cause — has moved to intervene in the case and has also filed a motion asking the court to dismiss it.
“There is no merit to this claim,” says Sophia Lin Lakin, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project. “We’ve asked the court to consider sanctions, because the courts shouldn’t be used to launder baseless claims into distrust in our elections. There should be consequences for that.”
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.