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State court lawsuit regarding the election in the Alaska
Superior Court on November 22. All of Miller's claims were rejected by the judge on December 10. Miller appealed the ruling to the Alaska Supreme Court; they heard oral arguments on December 17 and have fast-tracked their decision-making. The federal court retained jurisdiction of the U.S. constitutional issues that Miller raised in his November 9 Complaint; namely, that when the State Division of Elections used a voter intent standard in counting write-in ballots, it violated the Elections Clause and the Due Process Clause. According to Miller, the State election statute should be strictly construed to prohibit the counting of ballots in a candidates' favor if the ballots do not exactly comply with the clear and mandatory language of the statute. The federal judge has indicated he will rule in an expedited fashion on any U.S. constitutional issues that remain after the ruling by the Alaska Supreme court.
381:
issues that may exist once the state remedies have been exhausted". Miller then filed his second State case in
Fairbanks where he lives, essentially repeating the allegations in his federal lawsuit Complaint, but adding new claims of vote fraud and bias. State attorneys succeeded in getting the case moved to the State capital in Juneau where the disputed ballots were being held and where the Alaska Division of Elections is located. The State also asked for an expedited ruling so that Alaska would not deprived of full representation in the upcoming Senate session.
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even if all the challenged ballots were thrown out, Murkowski would still lead by about 2,200 votes. Hoping to pick up additional votes, the Miller campaign demanded a hand recount of the entire election, claiming that because
Murkowski's votes were all verified by visual inspection, Miller's should also have the same, individualized treatment. The Director of the Division of Elections replied that the State does not do recounts completely by hand; it uses optical scan equipment.
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box that was not secured, and signatures that appeared similar. On
November 16, the State election authorities agreed to provide Miller with the requested information. The Associated Press noted that similar signatures could be caused by voters requesting and receiving aid in filling out ballots, and that the affidavits suggesting fraud had been mostly by Miller supporters.
424:, election law analyst Richard L. Hasen said Miller's federal complaint involved issues that can arise in close elections, and noted the value of sticking to established rules so that election officials cannot manipulate the vote. However, he also noted that the question of whether the Alaska statute required perfect spelling was a matter of
434:, and said that the Election Clause claim would fail "because it would mean that election officials could never come up with regulations". Hasen also believed the Equal Protection argument, which is based on inconsistent treatment of similar ballots by different election officials, would also fail because in
243:
of the 14th
Amendment by using a voter intent standard. On November 19, the court ruled against Miller's request for a preliminary injunction to immediately stop the write-in vote count, but allowed the lawsuit to continue. Alaska election officials said they counted votes that are misspelled if they
66:
requesting a suspension of the hand count of all the write-in votes pending a final order of the federal court. The judge denied the injunction, stating that irreparable harm would not occur because disputed ballots could be kept separate for re-examination. Miller also filed a suit in State court on
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by accepting misspellings on write-in ballots, using different counting methods for different types of candidates and by allowing voters to vote without showing identification. Alaska has taken the position that the lawsuit is moot and in any event beyond the statute of limitations. All of Miller's
273:
The Miller campaign had observers present during the count who questioned the validity of over 8,000 ballots. By the end of the counting on
November 17, the Division of Elections showed Murkowski having a lead of over 10,000 votes, with about 8,000 of those votes challenged by Miller. At that point,
396:
had intended that a candidate's name must be spelled perfectly to count, it would have written the law to say that. Carey also dismissed Miller's assertions of vote fraud and other irregularities as unfounded. Miller's campaign replied that Carey's ruling modifies State law, and renewed calls for a
248:
including decisions of the Alaska
Supreme Court supports this practice. The Alaska Department of Law asked the federal judge to dismiss the case because it is fundamentally concerned with a question of State law that can be decided in the State courts and suggested that Miller was forum shopping by
376:
After filing the federal lawsuit, Miller began a second legal action against Alaska election officials, this time, in State court, asking to inspect and count signatures of voters in more than 30 precincts. In support of the suit, Miller provided affidavits that cited, among other things, a ballot
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When Alaska's state
Division of Elections announced that it would consider voter intent when reviewing the write-in ballots, Miller sued to prevent the counting of ballots that did not perfectly spell Murkowski's last name, or that did not reproduce her name exactly as it was stated on Murkowski's
137:, ran as a write-in candidate in the November 2010 general election because she had been defeated by Miller in the August 2010 Republican primary. The largest number of ballots cast in the November election were write-ins which required a hand-count to determine the names written on those ballots.
70:
On
November 19, the federal judge directed Miller to move his suit to State court for a determination of whether the Division of Elections was violating Alaska law, and he issued an order halting the certification of the election, pending the outcome of the litigation. Miller then filed his second
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Shortly after, U.S. District Court Judge
Beistline directed Miller to move his complaint to State court saying that the Alaska courts were in a better position than U.S. federal courts, to apply Alaska law to decide who won the election. But Beistline also said he would "review any constitutional
260:
because if Miller received his requested relief, certain voters whom the AFN represents would be disenfranchised – namely members of the native population, non-native speakers of English, and people with disabilities that caused them to have shaky or poor handwriting. U.S. District judge
428:, and that Alaska's Supreme Court has a long history of interpreting statutes in favor of the voters to avoid disenfranchisement based on technicalities. Hasen also noted that Miller's constitutional claims derive from a concurring opinion in the 2000 U.S. Supreme Court case,
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legal challenges eventually failed. The State of Alaska spent an estimated $ 100,000 defending itself from these suits, and pursued partial compensation from Miller, as well as proposing new voting rules regarding write-ins in order to prevent a recurrence.
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declaration of write-in candidacy, or that had penmanship issues. Miller claimed State law was very strict in this regard, and that all such ballots should be discounted. He claimed the federal court
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47:, in both federal and Alaska state courts, that dispute vote-counting methods and other procedures conducted by the Alaska Division of Elections relating to the November 2, 2010
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Joe Miller v. Mead Treadwell, in his official capacity as Lieutenant Governor; and the State of Alaska, Division of Elections; and Lisa Murkowski
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different election officials in different counties reviewed the ballots, but in Alaska, only one person was judging all the contested ballots.
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on November 9, 2010, That suit was directed at invalidating write-in ballots that did not perfectly spell the last name of Miller's opponent,
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62:, or that did not reproduce her name as it appeared on her declaration of write-in candidacy. When he filed the suit, Miller also sought a
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November 11, asking for voter rolls to compare to the number of votes cast in certain precincts, and to look for evidence of vote fraud.
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593:"Miller sues over spelling, gains votes in absentee ballot count; NO LEEWAY: Campaign says intent doesn't make write-in vote legitimate"
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694:"Murkowski triumphs in Alaska Senate race: Alaska's Murkowski appears to be first write-in candidate to win Senate since 1954"
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taking an alleged violation of a State statute, and bootstrapping it into a violation of provision of the U.S. Constitution.
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Joe Miller v. Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell, in his official capacity; and the State of Alaska, Division of Elections
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Sean Cockerham (November 17, 2010). "Miller calls for hand recount of votes as Murkowski lead grows".
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After these events, a lawsuit was filed by supporters of Miller arguing that the state violated the
976:"Alaska's Big Spelling Test: How strong is Joe Miller's argument against the Leeza Markovsky vote?"
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On December 13, Miller appealed the Alaska Superior Court decision of the prior week to the
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409:. Miller's appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court on December 22, 2010.
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823:"Despite Alaska Senate race results, Joe Miller presses on in principle"
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Former Senate Candidate Joe Miller's write-in lawsuit cost state 100K
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891:"State seeks expedited ruling in Miller lawsuit over write-ins"
649:"Miller v. Lieutenant Governor Craig Campbell et al Filing: 17"
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United States District Court for the District of Alaska cases
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saying that State election officials would be violating the
874:. Anchorage Daily News. The Associated Press. Archived from
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After briefs and oral arguments, Judge William Carey of the
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rejected both AFN's and Murkowski's requests to intervene.
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From left: Unsuccessful U.S. Senate candidate and plaintiff
671:"Judge rejects AFN involvement in Miller write-in lawsuit"
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Miller v. Campbell (3:10-cv-00252-RRB, District of Alaska)
115:, his main election opponent and incumbent U.S. Senator
522:"Candidate Argues Spelling Should Count in Alaska Vote"
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United States District Court for the District of Alaska
616:"Alaska counts write-in ballots in heated Senate race"
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disagreed with Miller's arguments, saying that if the
932:"Breaking: Alaska Supreme Court rules against Miller"
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783:
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635:"Murkowski Alaska-bound as vote counting winds down"
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Kyle Hopkins and Sean Cockerham (November 9, 2010).
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hand count of all the ballots cast in the election.
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Miller v. Treadwell - Alaska Supreme Court decision
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849:"Miller assails senator's intervention in lawsuit"
692:Seattle Times news services (November 17, 2010).
651:. Justia Dockets & Filings. November 10, 2010
507:"Miller files vote-count lawsuit in Alaska court"
481:"AFN seeks to intervene in Senate voting lawsuit"
413:Discussion of constitutional issues in the media
244:are phonetic to Murkowski, claiming that Alaska
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256:asked to be included in the lawsuit, claiming
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764:"Alaska to provide Miller with voter rolls"
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54:The first suit was filed by Miller in the
821:Sandyha Somashekhar (November 27, 2010).
637:. Anchorage Daily News. Associated Press.
39:, is a series of three lawsuits filed by
969:
967:
965:
792:"Miller appeals decision in Senate Race"
719:. NPR. Associated Press. Archived from
717:"AP: Murkowski Wins Alaska Senate Race"
715:AP staff reporter (November 17, 2010).
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974:Richard L. Hasen (November 11, 2010).
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897:. The Associated Press. Archived from
872:"Judge moves Miller lawsuit to Juneau"
855:. The Associated Press. Archived from
798:. The Associated Press. Archived from
770:. The Associated Press. Archived from
574:"Alaska Counts Misspelled 'Murkowski'"
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401:Appeal to the Supreme Court of Alaska
7:
614:Catakuba Canua (November 10, 2010).
133:Incumbent U.S. Senator Murkowski, a
677:. November 16, 2010. Archived from
633:Becky Boehrer (November 17, 2010).
509:. SFGate.com. The Associated Press.
479:Richard Mauer (November 15, 2010).
889:Becky Bohrer (November 30, 2010).
870:Becky Bohrer (November 29, 2010).
847:Rachel D'Oro (November 27, 2010).
790:Becky Bohrer (December 14, 2010).
762:Becky Bohrer (November 16, 2010).
572:Vauhini Vara (November 10, 2010).
505:Rachel D'Oro (November 22, 2010).
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520:Vauhini Vara (November 6, 2010).
239:of the U.S. Constitution and the
1040:United States elections case law
546:Chris Good (November 10, 2010).
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1025:2010 in United States case law
548:"Alaska's Legal Battle Begins"
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56:U.S. District Court of Alaska
254:Alaska Federation of Natives
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768:Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
930:CNN (December 22, 2010).
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426:statutory interpretation
269:Write-in count completed
920: (Alaska 2010).
578:The Wall Street Journal
526:The Wall Street Journal
241:Equal Protection Clause
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64:preliminary injunction
1035:Alaska state case law
1030:2010 Alaska elections
938:on December 23, 2010.
603:on November 10, 2010.
491:on December 22, 2010.
41:U.S. Senate candidate
994:Alaska Dispatch News
918:245 P.3d 867
901:on December 5, 2010.
895:Anchorage Daily News
878:on December 3, 2010.
859:on December 3, 2010.
853:Anchorage Daily News
744:Anchorage Daily News
681:on December 3, 2010.
675:Anchorage Daily News
597:Anchorage Daily News
485:Anchorage Daily News
407:Alaska Supreme Court
294:Alaska Supreme Court
278:State court lawsuits
913:Miller v. Treadwell
827:The Washington Post
723:on December 6, 2010
696:. The Seattle Times
341:Walter L. Carpeneti
285:Miller v. Treadwell
252:On November 15 the
148:Miller v. Treadwell
121:Lieutenant Governor
32:Miller v. Treadwell
954:has generic name (
802:on August 11, 2011
774:on March 15, 2012.
394:Alaska Legislature
37:Miller v. Campbell
27:Series of lawsuits
18:Miller v. Campbell
796:The Juneau Empire
448:Voting Rights Act
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313:December 22, 2010
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830:. Retrieved
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552:The Atlantic
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442:Continuation
436:Bush v. Gore
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996:, 1/25/2011
417:Writing in
205:F. Supp. 2d
190:Docket nos.
119:, and then-
1019:Categories
455:References
367:Per curiam
135:Republican
113:Joe Miller
75:Background
45:Joe Miller
944:cite news
620:USA Today
345:Dana Fabe
727:April 3,
422:magazine
318:Citation
258:standing
246:case law
200:Citation
310:Decided
182:Decided
916:,
390:Juneau
420:Slate
290:Court
162:Court
956:help
834:2010
808:2010
729:2018
702:2010
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323:P.3d
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