Three Kenai Peninsula legislators released a statement on Monday afternoon, calling on Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy to join Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's suit asking the U.S Supreme Court to order state legislatures in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to refuse to honor certified election results in their states and choose new presidential electors.
The Texas suit alleges that judicial changes made to voting procedures in the interest of public safety during the coronavirus pandemic were unlawful.
The letter, on official AK House of Representatives letterhead, is signed by District 29 Representative Ben Carpenter of Kenai, District 30 Representative-elect Ron Gillham of Soldotna and District 31 Representative Sarah Vance of Homer.
In October, the Alaska Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision, ruling that Alaska
voters in the November 3rd, 2020 election did not need the signature of a witness in order to
vote by absentee ballot.
The legislators maintain in their letter, that the Alaska Supreme Court does not have the authority to waive the witness's signature on absentee ballots and that, quote, “ The court's actions call into question the legitimacy of the 2020 election results....”
It is unclear if Representatives Carpenter and Vance, and Representative-elect Gillham believe their own elections to be illegitimately won. The letter only asks Governor Dunleavy to join the Texas suit which seeks to overturn 2020 presidential election results in states won by President-elect Joe Biden. KBBI reached out to the representatives for comment on Monday evening but has not yet received any response.
The U.S. Supreme Court may not agree to hear the Texas suit. Election officials from all four states named in the suit - Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – have condemned the action and it is unlikely that the State of Texas will be granted legal standing to demand that legitimate election results be thrown out in another state.
The State of Alaska has already certified its election results. Alaska's electors will cast their three votes for outgoing President Donald Trump when the electoral college meets next week on December 14. When Congress convenes on January 6, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate will meet together in the Hall of the House of Representatives, count the electoral votes and officially declare Joe Biden the next president. Biden has secured 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232.
