The Alaska Supreme Court late Wednesday that voters will be allowed to see a list of certified write-in candidates at polling places statewide.
The ruling reversed a lower court decision earlier in the day that would have required the state Division of Elections to remove the list but show it to any voter who asked for it. The ballots cast by those who asked to see the list would have been segregated from other voters, pending furhter court actions.
The new ruling is a victory for the campaign of incumbent U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who was defeated in the August GOP primary by Tea Party-favorite Joe Miller and is mounting a write-in campaign. Former Sitka Mayor Scott McAdams is the Democrat in the race.
The Supreme Court says the list of registered write-in candidates shall be limited to names only, with no party affiliation.
Earlier, Anchorage Superior Court Judge Frank A. Pfiffner said the division was in clear violation of an administrative regulation.
The regulation reads, "Information regarding a write-in candidate may not be discussed, exhibited, or provided at the polling place, or within 200 feet of any entrance to the polling place."
Pfiffner said in his 13-page ruling that the Elections Division surreptitiously sought approval from the U.S. Department of Justice under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to provide polling places with a list of write-in candidates, including the name of the candidate and candidate's party.
The Justice Department did not approve the plan, but the Elections Division implemented it anyway. A spokesman for the Alaska Department of Law did not immediately respond to messages Wednesday.
In the ruling, Pfiffner enjoined the Elections Division from allowing election workers and polling place workers to post write-in candidates, to provide a list of write-in candidate names to voters or to verbally provide those names to voters.
"The judge has clearly ruled that the law should be upheld, and Alaska voters deserve a fair and legal election," Patti Higgins, chairwoman of the Alaska Democratic Party, said in a statement. "The court's ruling ensures that the Division of Elections and the State of Alaska cannot give special treatment to any write-in candidate."
The Alaska Democratic Party sued Monday to stop the Elections Division from providing the information and the Republican Party of Alaska joined the lawsuit. They claimed the names would skew voting in favor of write-in candidates.
Murkowski campaign intervenes
The Murkowski campaign had intervened in the lawsuit, arguing that election officials have a broad mandate to assist voters and the desire of voters in past court cases has trumped state rules.
At a hearing Monday, assistant attorney general Margaret Paton-Walsh said the Elections Division anticipated questions and the potential for an increase in assistance requests because of the high-profile write-in campaign.
Paton-Walsh said lists of write-in names were only intended as voter assistance and were not forms of advocacy. She said other states routinely post such information at polling places.
Kenneth Kirk, an attorney for the Alaska Republican Party, said in a statement that giving out lists of write-in candidates at the polls was a clear violation of Alaska law.
"It is our hope that the Division of Elections will accept this well-reasoned ruling and move on to more important things, rather than dragging this issue out with more litigation," Kirk said.
