Election officials have announced that the outcome of the Alaska Senate race will likely be made official Friday, when a judge passes down a ruling on Joe Miller's challenge to Sen. Lisa Murkowski's apparent write-in victory. Despite a number of losses in his battle to invalidate the results, the Republican candidate isn't giving up hope yet.
Miller's latest attempt to resuscitate his ballot deficiency has revolved around allegations that hundreds of convicted felons were allowed to cast votes in the election, a contention that has been expressly denied by the state's election board.
The Associated Press reports:
It's not clear how many of those offenders had their right to vote reinstated; [state election director Gail] Fenumiai said a person convicted of a felony involving moral turpitude who has been unconditionally discharged from jail, probation or parole has the right to register or re-register to vote. That person's name, however, could still appear on the sex offender registry.
The campaign concedes that but wants a judge to grant the opportunity to investigate the matter further.
On Friday, Alaska Superior Court Judge William Carey is expected to decide if these latest claims -- as well as his previous ones -- have any merit. If he decides in favor of Miller, the investigation will continue, triggering a possible recount . If he decides in favor of Murkowski, she will be declared the victor, though Hotline On Call reports that Miller will likely take the case to the state's Supreme Court.
If Miller's campaign indeed ends on Friday, many will undoubtedly question a recent Washington Post examination of his latest campaign finance report, which finds that Miller left himself with nearly $1 million at the actual time of the election, an amount that constitutes almost a third of his total war chest.
While some may suggest that this was simply symptomatic of a candidate who entered the race with an excess of confidence, others may wonder why Miller appeared to be paying down his debt with money from campaign donations before the campaign had actually reached a conclusion.