Judge dismisses Trump lawsuit seeking to block Alaska Senate race certification
A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit backed by Donald Trump that sought to block certification of Alaska's Senate race if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan lost, a move voting rights experts had called an unprecedented federal intervention.
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit backed by Donald Trump that sought to block certification of Alaska's US Senate race in the event that Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan lost. The ruling removes a legal challenge that voting rights experts had described as an unprecedented intervention by the federal government in a contest that carries weight for control of Congress.
Trump said on 23 October that he had ordered the Justice Department to file the lawsuit. Certification of election results is traditionally handled by state authorities, which is why the move drew such close attention. The case therefore raised a sensitive question about how results are finalised once ballots have been counted, and whether federal officials should have any role in that process.
In dismissing the case, the judge said the relief that Trump's Justice Department was seeking was infeasible. The filing asked the court to set aside Senate ballots, a demand that Alaska attorneys described as meritless and as disturbing and impossible to carry out. Their response framed the request as one that could not be reconciled with the operation of the state's election system, and they argued that the federal government had no basis for seeking to overturn the count.
The dispute also unfolded alongside a broader federal response. The Justice Department issued a wave of subpoenas and announced that it was conducting a criminal investigation in the case. Those steps added to the scrutiny surrounding the lawsuit, even though the court ultimately rejected the underlying request. The combination of civil litigation, subpoenas and a criminal probe made the episode unusual for a state-level certification dispute.
Sullivan has said he will accept the election results, a position he set out after the Justice Department's involvement became public. His stance places the incumbent's public commitment to the outcome in contrast with the legal effort launched in his favour. Observers have pointed to that tension as the contest moves toward its conclusion, noting that the senator has not endorsed the attempt to block certification.
The Alaska race is one of the Senate contests that will help determine which party controls Congress, which is why the legal fight over certification drew national attention. Voting rights advocates warned that intervention of this kind, if allowed to succeed, could set a precedent for federal pressure on how state elections are certified. With the lawsuit dismissed, the state's established counting and certification procedures remain the route by which the result will be confirmed.
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