Alaska Supreme Court rules against Joe Miller
The Alaska Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down Alaska Senate candidate Joe Miller's lawsuit, dealing his campaign what appears to be a death blow.
The court ruled that the state of Alaska did not err in counting write-in ballots for Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) even if the ballots did not correctly spell Murkowski's name. Miller had been pushing for a stricter standard, which could have helped him make up about 8,000 votes as he seeks to overcome Murkowski's wide lead.
Miller will now have two days to file any additional complaints; otherwise Murkowski will be certified as the winner and remain seated when the next Congress convenes next month.
Though Miller could feasibly keep fighting, the decision effectively takes away any shot he had of putting the outcome of the election in doubt. Even if the decision on the write-in ballots had gone his way, Miller would have trailed Murkowski by more than 2,000 votes.
In its decision (found here), the court said there "are no remaining issues raised by Miller that prevent this election from being certified."
Miller defeated Murkowski in the Republican primary in August, but the senator decided to wage a write-in campaign. If she is certified as the winner, as appears imminent, she would be the first candidate to win a write-in campaign for Senate since 1954.
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