Associated Press
JUNEAU — Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced his state will join a lawsuit attempting to overturn the results of the presidential election, days after Dunleavy said there is an “outside chance” Joe Biden will become the next U.S. president.
Dunleavy released a statement Thursday saying Alaska had joined a Texas case challenging election results in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin and Michigan.
“While this case concerns election integrity, it also has an impact on state’s rights,” Dunleavy said.
Signing onto cases involving “the inner workings of other states” should not be taken lightly by Alaskans, Dunleavy said.
“However, the issue of election integrity impacts all of us, and the question of free and fair elections must be answered in order for all Americans to have confidence in our system,” Dunleavy said. “We hope for an expedited decision from the Supreme Court.”
The Texas lawsuit demands that the 62 total Electoral College votes from the four states be invalidated. That’s enough, if set aside, to swing the election to Trump. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s lawsuit repeats a litany of false, disproven and unsupported allegations about mail-in ballots and voting in the four battlegrounds.
Legal experts dismissed Paxton’s filing as the latest and perhaps longest legal shot since Election Day, and officials in the four states sharply criticized Paxton.
Four Alaska House members and one representative-elect called on Alaska Acting Attorney General Ed Sniffen to file a brief supporting the Texas lawsuit. The Alaska Department of Law previously said a narrow timeline prevented Alaska from joining the lawsuit.
Dunleavy made the comment about Biden’s chance of becoming president Tuesday during an interview with the conservative political podcast Must Read Alaska, KTOO-FM reported.
The Republican governor told hosts Suzanne Downing and John Quick that voter fraud accusations must be investigated and courts need to determine if fraud occurred.
“I’m just saying that I’m not there yet,” Dunleavy said. “But in the outside chance — and I’d like to word it that way — that there is a new administration, we will set up a relationship with that new administration and do the best we can to work with them.”
Court cases related to the 2000 presidential election were not resolved until well into December of that year, Dunleavy said.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Bush v. Gore on Dec. 12, 2000.
“The people of America need to know that their vote counts,” Dunleavy said. “And if there is any suspicion of fraud, which there is, that really needs to be looked into.”
Voter fraud should be determined by courts, Dunleavy said.
“If it does exist, then that needs to be rectified. If it doesn’t exist, then that needs to be proven as well,” Dunleavy said.
Allies of President Donald Trump have filed dozens of lawsuits related to the election. No systemic fraud or consequential error has been established in an election that state monitors and courts have repeatedly found was run fairly.
Presidential electors are scheduled to cast their Electoral College votes Dec. 14.
