Miller: Fed Court Stops Election Certification

Joe Miller last night gave an expanded report of the federal judge's ruling granting him a conditional injunction to stop the certification of Alaska's US Senate election, so that serious legal issues could be resolved. The conditions attached to the the federal injunction require the Miller campaign to file the injunction at the state level and it must be filed by close of court business on Monday, November 22, 2010.

The injunction is pursuant to an existing lawsuit pertaining to how write-in candidates' ballots are to be counted. Alaska's election laws require that the oval be filled in and the candidate's name be spelled correctly, but the state chose to "exercise discretion" and consider "voter intent," in counting ballots. Former Lieutenant Governor Loren Leman agrees with Miller and said the state Department of Elections' move, contravened established statute and was done for political reasons.

Indeed, Sen. Murkowski herself expected that the statute was going to be followed as her ad campaigns focused on the correct spelling of her name.

Federal Court Stops Certification of Alaska U.S. Senate Election Pending Resolution of Serious Legal Issues Anchorage, Alaska. November 19, 2010 -- Today the U.S. Federal District Court in Anchorage ordered the U.S. Senate race not to be certified until vital legal issues are resolved. The Court recognized serious statutory matters have been raised by Joe Miller concerning what standard of review should be used to count the write-in ballots. The Miller campaign has consistently held that the state law must be applied, as written. Its provisions could not be clearer: "A vote for a write-in candidate…shall be counted if the oval is filled in for that candidate and if the name, as it appears on the write-in declaration of candidacy of the candidate or the last name of the candidate is written in the space provided” and, “The rules set out in this section are mandatory and there are no exceptions to them. A ballot may not be counted unless marked in compliance with these rules.” The Division of Elections chose to ignore that clear standard and instead issued new guidelines concerning "voter intent" only36 hours before ballot review began. Federal District Judge Ralph Beistline in his ruling held, “In order to ensure that these serious State law issues are resolved prior to certification of the election, the Court hereby conditionally grants Plaintiff’s motion to enjoin certification of the election." The Judge added, "[T]he results of this election shall not be certified until the legal issues raised therein have been fully and finally resolved.” Joe Miller reacted to the ruling saying, "I am gratified to have Judge Beistline recognize that we have raised vital questions concerning the ballot review in this election. It is critical that these issues be resolved not only for this election, but for future ones in Alaska, as well. We are a nation of laws, and the law concerning this could not be clearer. We need the state law applied consistently to all ballots cast. We look forward to the state court’s interpretation of the relevant laws consistent with what the people of Alaska enacted through their state legislature.” ### P.S. Help us ensure a fair vote count in Alaska. Please click here to donate a gift of $100, $75, $50, or $25. Paid for by Joe Miller for US Senate Recount