Alaska
Alaska certifies Murkowski's write-in Senate victory 
(Yereth Rosen/Reuters, 30 December 2010) -- ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The state of Alaska certified Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski's victory over Tea Party favorite Joe Miller on Thursday, nearly three months after the incumbent won the race with an unconventional write-in campaign. The certification document was signed in the state capitol in Juneau by Governor Sean Parnell and Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell, a spokeswoman for Parnell said. "It's been certified. The governor signed the certificate and the lieutenant governor notarized it," Parnell spokeswoman Sharon Leighow said. "From there it gets on a plane tonight with Gail." Division of Elections Director Gail Fenumiai will carry it personally to the Secretary of the Senate, who must receive it by noon Monday, Leighow said. It will be hand-carried by a state employee to Washington, D.C. so that it can be delivered to the Secretary of the Senate by Monday, the deadline to ensure Murkowski is sworn in for the start of the new Congress. Although Murkowski beat Miller by 10,252 votes, about 4.5 percent of the total cast, Miller filed lawsuits in state and federal court seeking to overturn the results by throwing out ballots with minor misspelling or handwriting flaws. But an Alaska Superior Court judge, the Alaska Supreme Court and a U.S. District Court judge found the lawsuit was without merit and that the state counted ballots correctly. A Murkowski spokesman said the long-delayed certification was welcomed.
Posted 31 December 2010; 1:24:43 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Alaska, Autonomy, policy and politics, Circumpolar News, December10, United States
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