Miller Seeks Court Intervention on Vote Counts
Talking Points Memo reports:
GOP nominee Joe Miller is asking a federal judge to keep the state from using discretion in counting write-in ballots in Alaska's hotly contested U.S. Senate race.
The suit was filed Tuesday, the day before election officials planned to begin counting write-in ballots.
Miller's rival, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, waged a write-in campaign after losing the primary to Miller. Write-ins lead Miller in initial vote totals, but it's unclear how many of those write-in votes are for Murkowski.
Miller's campaign argues the state should be held to the law, which says a ballot oval must be filled in and either the candidate's last name or the name as it appears on a declaration of candidacy must written in.
The state has said it will use discretion when it comes to misspellings or variations of Murkowski's name, with officials pointing to case law as their basis for this.
