TRUMP ORDERS LAWSUIT TO BLOCK ALASKA SENATE RESULT CERTIFICATION

Donald Trump said he ordered the Department of Justice to sue Alaska to prevent certification of its US Senate election result if Republican incumbent Daniel S Sullivan loses. Government lawyers filed the lawsuit on Friday, less than two weeks before election day. They argue that another Republican candidate named Daniel J Sullivan could confuse voters who intend to support the incumbent. “I’m the one that said do it,” Trump told reporters. The department wants a court to pause certification while it investigates whether voters intended ballots cast for Daniel J Sullivan to go to the incumbent.

Daniel J Sullivan, a retired schoolteacher, will appear on the November ballot alongside the incumbent and Democratic nominee Mary Peltola, a former congresswoman. Recent polls suggest a close contest between Peltola and the incumbent. In its complaint, the department claims Daniel J Sullivan entered the race for “the sole purpose” of reducing the incumbent’s vote. Government lawyers argue that the outcome could change if voters who choose Daniel J Sullivan had intended to vote for the incumbent and Alaska’s ranked-choice process then applied. They also claim certification could reflect an election that “lacked integrity”.

The result could affect which party controls the Senate. David Becker, executive director of the Centre for Election Innovation & Research, called the lawsuit “an unprecedented intervention by the federal government”. Becker said Alaska’s courts had already considered the issue of candidates with similar names on the ballot. Derek Mueller, a University of Notre Dame law professor, wrote that the legal claim had “essentially no likelihood of success”. A court has yet to decide whether to grant the department’s request to delay certification.