A federal judge on Sunday threw out a bid from the Trump administration to block Alaska state officials from certifying election results if the Republican candidate for Senate loses.
U.S. Judge Sharon Gleason, an appointee of President Barack Obama, said the government hadn't offered a workable plan for pulling out and investigating ballots cast for retired educator Dan J. Sullivan Jr., who is challenging the incumbent GOP Sen. Dan S. Sullivan.
"This court lacks the authority to order that certain ballots cast by Alaskans be segregated so that federal law enforcement officials can conduct an unspecified investigation of the voters who cast them," she said.
The decision isn't likely to end the controversy as the Justice Department said it plans to appeal Sunday's ruling. State and federal authorities are also investigating whether anyone broke the law in their attempt to get the second Sullivan on the ballot.
The Justice Department had argued in the civil litigation that Alaskan results might be invalidated by voter confusion if Sen. Sullivan loses his re-election bid and the votes cast for the other Dan Sullivan were sufficient to potentially change the outcome. Polls show Sen. Dan J. Sullivan is currently in a close race with Democratic candidate Mary Peltola.
Alaskan election officials said in a court filing that what the Trump administration was asking it to do was "inappropriate and not even possible given Alaskan voters' vital right to ballot secrecy."