Joe Miller campaign spokesman Randy DeSoto said last week that the campaign has enough money to carry its suit against the Alaska Division of Elections all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.
It is not necessary.
We're confident most Alaskans hope Joe Miller will understand that just because you can hold up certification of the U.S. Senate election doesn't mean you should.
State Superior Court Judge William Carey rejected Miller's arguments against the state's interpretation of election law, and also rejected his speculative claims of election "malconduct."
In doing so, the judge upheld case law and common sense. When the state decided that write-in votes for Lisa Murkowski would be counted provided voter intent was clear, it put the enfranchisement of Alaska's legally registered voters above their ability to spell. This was an election, not a spelling bee. That's how the state saw it, that's how Alaskans see it, that's how the judge ruled.
The judge reasonably concluded that if the Legislature had intended perfect spelling in order for write-in votes to qualify, the statute would have spelled that out.
"Without question, DOE's interpretation of the statute was reasonable," Carey wrote.
Further, the judge found that Miller's suspicions of fraud weren't substantiated by any evidence the campaign produced.
The Division of Elections did its job and gave Alaskans a fair, free and accurately counted election. And even if every vote challenged by the Miller campaign was discounted, Murkowski would still win by more than 2,000 votes.
Don't even bother to stick a fork in this one. It's overdone.
All Miller will accomplish now by pursuing the court case is delay certification and potentially leave Alaska without its senior senator on duty. That's a disservice to the state Miller claimed he wanted to serve.
The court has considered the law and recognized reality. Joe Miller should do the same.
BOTTOM LINE: It's time for Joe Miller to stop campaigning in court.