Alaska Senate: Peltola seeks quick dismissal of DOJ election lawsuit before midterm

The campaign of Alaska Senate Democratic nominee Mary Peltola asked a federal judge to fast-track a Trump administration lawsuit that could block certification of that election, so the judge can dismiss the suit before Election Day.

A lawyer for Peltola's campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in a court filing late Sunday said they are "seriously concerned" President Donald Trump and Attorney General Todd Blanche will use the lawsuit to "lay the groundwork for unlawful efforts to challenge a potential Peltola victory" if the complaint remains pending as of Nov. 3, the day of the election.

The advocacy groups Common Cause and the League of Women Voters, which previously sought to intervene in the DOJ's lawsuit, on Monday joined Peltola's motion seeking a quick briefing and dismissal by Alaska District Court Judge Sharon Gleason.

The Department of Justice filed the suit Friday. Trump later that day said he ordered it.

The DOJ's suit asks a judge to bar Alaska from certifying the Senate race results if incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses by a margin that could be attributable to voters mistakenly casting their ballots for another candidate, Daniel J. Sullivan.

The DOJ, in that case, would want an investigation to determine whether enough voters were confused by the men's names to swing the vote to another candidate, presumably the former Rep. Peltola. The DOJ claims that Daniel J. Sullivan's "sole purpose" of running "is to benefit the Peltola campaign by reducing the number of votes for Senator Sullivan."

The winner of the race could determine which party holds a majority in the Senate starting in January.

Peltola's campaign and the DSCC, in their court filing, asked that a judge order the DOJ to respond by their motion to intervene in the case, and their motion to dismiss the lawsuit by 5 p.m. Alaska Time on Tuesday, and to order a reply to that response by Wednesday.

"And dismiss the case this week," the motion says.

"DOJ filed this lawsuit in the midst of the ongoing general election, less than two weeks before election day, raising issues governed exclusively by state law that were definitively resolved by the Alaska Supreme Court months ago," the filing says.

"DOJ seeks an unprecedented order precluding certification of the U.S. Senate election if the candidate the President favors loses narrowly," the filing said.

"As the proposed Motion to Dismiss reflects, DOJ's claims are utterly without legal basis," the filing said.

"The Court should not allow this lawsuit to hang like the Sword of Damocles over the ongoing election, lending false legitimacy to the President's and the Attorney General's ongoing efforts to spread false narratives about Alaska's elections as voting continues and as results begin to be tabulated next week."

CNBC has requested comment from the DOJ.

The department has not said how any investigation before certification of the election could determine whether a voter was confused about which Sullivan they were voting for. The ballot for the election notes that Sen. Sullivan — whose name is listed as Dan S. Sullivan — is an incumbent and a Republican. There are no words next to the name of the other candidate, whose name is spelled out Daniel J. Sullivan.

Peltola on Friday night told MS NOW's Nicolle Wallace that the DOJ's suit "is exactly the kind of corruption that Alaskans are sick and tired of."

"This is clearly a very desperate attempt to cling to power, using his allies in Washington, D.C., to rig the system even further," Peltola said.

Peltola's campaign on Sunday said that on Saturday night she and her family "sustained minor injuries" that required medical attention after a vehicle transporting them en route to the Alaska Federation of Natives Annual Banquet was struck by another driver.

As a result, Peltola posted events in Fairbanks and Bethel on Sunday and Monday. The campaign said they would be rescheduled.