By Jan Wolfe
Nov 1 (Reuters) – A federal judge on Sunday threw out a lawsuit by President Donald Trump’s administration seeking to block Alaska from certifying a loss by Republican Senator Dan Sullivan in Tuesday’s midterm elections if votes for a rival who shares his name could have changed the outcome.
The ruling by US District Judge Sharon Gleason in Anchorage was the latest blow to Trump’s efforts to assert a greater federal role in elections, which under the US Constitution are administered by the states.
The race, in which Democratic former US Representative Mary Peltola is challenging Sullivan, could prove critical for determining whether Trump’s fellow Republicans can retain control of the Senate in the midterms.
The Trump administration has taken an increasingly aggressive approach to election oversight, pressing states for voter-registration data and arguing that stricter measures are needed to ensure public confidence in the vote. Critics, including Democratic and some Republican election officials, view the moves as federal overreach.
(Reporting by Jan Wolfe and Mike Scarcella; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Will Dunham)
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