ANCHORAGE – The League of Women Voters (LWV), LWV of Alaska, Common Cause, ACLU of Alaska, and ACLU National Voting Rights Project issued statements today after a federal judge rejected the Department of Justice’s last-minute attempt to block Alaska’s Senate election results if the Republican candidate did not win.
The League of Women Voters of Alaska, Common Cause, and individual Alaska voters, represented by the ACLU National Voting Rights Project and the ACLU of Alaska, intervened to protect the voting rights of Alaskans. The ruling rejects DOJ’s lawsuit because the relief the federal government sought was illegal and would have disrupted Alaska’s elections on the eve of voting and violated Alaskans’ right to a secret ballot.
“We are grateful the district court defended democracy today by dismissing this groundless, frivolous lawsuit,” said Celina Stewart, CEO of the League of Women Voters. “The voters of Alaska have the right to decide who represents them in the United States Senate, and the Department of Justice has no right to interfere through its groundless demands.”
“Our nonpartisan work is centered on protecting voter rights and ensuring all voters have their voices heard in our democracy. We appreciate the district court’s quick action to ensure those rights are protected and that all Alaskans have their ballot counted,” said Sarah Moore, co-president of the League of Women Voters of Alaska.
“This ruling is a victory for the people of Alaska, reaffirming their voices will be heard, and their votes will be counted,” said Virginia Kase Solomón, president and CEO of Common Cause. “The Trump administration keeps trying tricks to interfere in our election, but they keep failing because our democracy and people-power is strong. Common Cause will continue to defend Americans’ freedom to vote in free and fair elections because politicians don’t dictate election outcomes, people do.”
“This desperate, lawless attempt to disenfranchise Alaska voters has been swiftly thrown out of court, and that is a win for democracy,” said Ari Savitzky, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project. “The court’s get-out-and-don’t-come-back ruling makes clear that preemptively blocking election results and running an inquisition into the sincerity of voters’ choices would be flatly illegal. Every American should be alarmed that their own Justice Department tried to put voters on trial for how they might vote. That should never happen in this country. The rule of law held, and voters should go to the polls with their heads held high.”
“Today the court upheld our most fundamental voting rights by dismissing the federal government’s frivolous lawsuit,” said Lu-Anne Haukaas Lopez, executive director for the ACLU of Alaska. “The decision affirmed what we already know: Alaskans – not the president- decide our elections. The ACLU of Alaska is watching this election closely for other attempts to undermine our elections. We remain committed to protecting and defending the voting rights of all Alaskans.”
Counting every vote takes time, and it’s unlikely that Alaskans will have final results on Election Night. Alaska election officials follow strict state laws that include steps for receiving, checking, processing, counting, reviewing, and certifying ballots. Some ballots, including mail ballots or ballots that require verification, may take longer to count. Election officials are required by law to certify the election results.
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