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Message: [QUOTE="Bombastus, post: 93842, member: 2178"] Donald Trump wants federal courts to halt Alaska's Senate election results if Republican Dan Sullivan loses by a narrow margin. The president says his concern is voter confusion, while legal experts question the basis for the case. At issue is a second candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired schoolteacher with no party label. His name is close to that of the GOP senator. Republicans claim Democrats put him in the race to split votes, but Democrats deny any link. Alaska's Supreme Court has ruled that the retired teacher can stay on the ballot. He also says his run is real. Yet the Justice Department has filed a new federal case over the same dispute. Attorney General Todd Blanche says Washington has a duty to act if name mix-ups lead to an unfair result. He maintains that Alaska would still choose its senator, with state courts and election staff left to deal with any proven issue. Trump says he urged federal lawyers to file the case. He blames Alaska Democrats for what he calls a corrupt effort to mislead voters. Election law experts, however, doubt that his legal team has a sound claim. Michael McNulty, a past U.S. election adviser who has studied voting abroad, sees a wider risk. He argues that the court action could erode faith in the vote even if it fails. His concern is that such doubt may help justify fresh challenges later. The Alaska case is part of a wider push by Trump to give federal agencies more sway over state-run elections. Courts have already blocked or limited several parts of that effort. One plan would have let the U.S. Postal Service check ballots sent by mail. The Supreme Court blocked it. Another effort seeks voter records from 30 states and Washington, D.C. Federal lawyers have lost 27 cases, with the rest still open. Homeland security agents have also sought proof of illegal votes in states where the White House alleges broad voting by noncitizens. Those claims lack evidence, and a federal judge has curbed much of the probe. McNulty thinks the White House may gain from these disputes without winning in court. Each new claim can give voters more cause to doubt the process. He warns that the same claims may return once ballots have been counted. Alaska has another factor at play. Republican Lieutenant Governor Nancy Dahlstrom runs the state election system. She had backed the removal of the second Sullivan from the race before judges let him return. Dahlstrom also has a past link to the contest. She once ran against Mary Peltola, the Democrat seeking to unseat Senator Sullivan. Experts fear the federal lawsuit could give state officials a reason to dispute a close result. Trump has also made claims about voting machines that worry some Democrats and election staff. They fear those claims may serve as grounds for legal fights if his party loses key races. Benjamin Hovland, whom Trump ousted from the bipartisan Election Assistance Commission, shares that concern. He fears federal lawyers may use claims of fraud or ineligible voters to challenge results the president dislikes. Hovland, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, argues that the Justice Department risks acting on Trump's political interests rather than as an independent law agency. The legal fight leaves Alaska with an unusual dispute before voters have cast their ballots. State judges have settled the question of who can run, yet federal officials want a way to challenge the result under certain terms. Whether a court accepts that request remains unclear. [/QUOTE]

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