A judge says he needs a few days to decide if Joe Miller has valid legal claims that the state mismanaged the Alaska U.S. Senate race.
Attorneys from all sides packed a Juneau courtroom for the lawsuit hearing Wednesday morning.
The judge gave each side 45 minutes to present a case. He asked a few questions and now everyone’s heading home to see what’s next.
Miller’s attorney quoted James Madison when he told Judge William Carey that “men are not angels…” and should not have the power to interpret misspelled write-in votes.
“This court recognizes that the state legislature wisely placed restrictions on the ability of the government to decide which ballots are valid,” said Michael Morley, Miller’s attorney.
The Miller team says a vote cast for a write-in candidate must appear and be spelled as it is on an individual’s declaration of candidacy.
The state and Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s lawyers, who intervened in the case, pulled out a dictionary for their argument.
“The definition of ‘appears’ means, ‘to seem to be or to look to be.’ It’s not a specific word,” said Tim McKeever, an attorney for Murkowski.
That’s just count one of Miller’s lawsuit. They also accuse the Division of Elections of fraud, and now they’re tossing in a new claim.
“We’ve just discovered that there are several hundred votes that have been cast by people that are on the sex offender registry,” Morley said.
“So is this an entirely new claim that you’re bringing? It sounds like it,” Carey asked.
“Well, your honor, these are literally facts that we just discovered,” Morley responded.
Lawyers for the state say they’ve had enough already.
“Mr. Miller is throwing in everything imaginable to claim that the election is not fair and that it’s not final,” said Joanne Grace, an attorney for the state.
Judge Carey says he’ll rule by the end of the week, but some are already planning their next move.
“I think that all parties assume that no matter the outcome of the trial court hearing today that there will be an appeal to the Alaska Supreme Court,” Miller said.
Appeals likely mean further delay to a final decision.
Carey, who is based in Ketchikan, says he’ll likely send out his written decision on Friday.
Gov. Sean Parnell says he’s asked the Department of Law to research the process of an interim appointment to the Senate seat. Parnell says he’s exploring all legal avenues to ensure Alaska’s representation.
Contact Ted Land at tland@ktuu.com
