A Judge Throws Out the Trump Administration's Alaska Election Lawsuit, Two Days Before the Vote

A federal judge in Anchorage on Sunday threw out a Trump administration lawsuit that sought to block Alaska from certifying a loss by Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan in Tuesday's election if votes for a rival who shares his name could have changed the outcome, Reuters reported. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason is the latest setback for President Donald Trump's effort to expand the federal government's role in elections, which are administered by the states under the U.S. Constitution.

The case sits inside a stranger fight. 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, Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, Reuters reported in its Sunday campaign coverage. The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Peltola aides worked with staff at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on the effort. Peltola and the campaign committee have denied involvement, and Sullivan Jr. has denied coordinating with Peltola's campaign. The Justice Department had asked the court to prevent certification of Alaska's vote if the incumbent loses narrowly.

Sunday's dismissal means Alaska's certification process runs on the state's own rules on Tuesday, with no federal hold keyed to the same-name candidacy. It is the second election-law refusal the administration has taken in four days, after a California judge rejected its bid to block ballots from about 20,000 voters on its noncitizen list and an appeals court upheld that ruling on October 30 — the fight this station covered this afternoon. For Texas voters, the pattern is the point: the arguments that will be available to challenge a close result on Tuesday night are being tested, and mostly refused, in courtrooms this weekend.