Alaska lieutenant governor and attorney general urge U.S. Senate to confirm Trump’s Supreme Court pick

Alaska Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer and acting state attorney general Ed Sniffen have signed letters urging U.S. senators to confirm Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trump’s pick for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Sniffen, who has served since August as the state’s the state’s top lawyer, signed a Sept. 30 letter of recommendation alongside 21 other Republican attorneys general.

Meyer signed two letters — one from the Republican Lieutenant Governors Association and the other written by Alabama’s lieutenant governor — alongside Republican counterparts from other states.

Alaska’s lieutenant governor is in charge of the state’s elections, and the letter says, “It is critical that Americans exercise their right to vote with total confidence that a full, nine-member Court could examine any challenges to elections results without the potential of tie vote.”

“In the case an election issue is challenged in court, America cannot afford a tie vote,” the Alabama letter states.

Neither Sniffen nor Meyer responded to emails or calls about the letters on Tuesday to answer questions about the letters.

The day after this article was published, the Department of Law provided a written statement from Sniffen: “It’s not uncommon for the Attorney General to join other Attorneys General on letters of support to Congress on various issues. The request to join this letter came from the office of Attorney General Jeff Landry of Louisiana. The letter speaks for itself, and shows support for President Trump’s nomination of Judge Barrett.”

President Donald Trump, who selected Coney Barrett after the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, has said he wants Congress to approve his pick before Election Day.