Courts Reject Bid by Alaska Democratic Party to Remove Imprisoned Candidate From Ballot

U.S. House candidate Mary Peltola speaks with reporters at her campaign party at 49th State Brewing in Anchorage, Alaska, on Aug. 16, 2022. Kerry Tasker/Reuters

A judge in Alaska rejected a bid by the Alaska Democratic Party to boot an imprisoned Democratic candidate from the ballot, a ruling that was soon upheld by the Alaska Supreme Court.

Superior Court Judge Ian Wheeles on Sept. 10 said that the party did not meet its burden in arguing for a restraining order and injunction that would require Alaska officials to remove Eric Hafner, who is currently in prison in New York, from the November ballot.

The Alaska Democratic Party said its preferred candidate, Rep. Mary Peltola (D-Alaska), will be harmed if Hafner remains on the ballot, but Wheeles said that’s not true in part because Alaska uses a ranked-choice system in which voters can rank their choices.

“Voters are able to accurately indicate their preferences under this system. If a voter votes only for Hafner, and does not rank other candidates, then the voter expressly asserts that they only want to vote for Hafner if no other ranking is indicated. Under this voting regime, no votes are diverted from one candidate to another, so no candidate is harmed,” the judge wrote in his 18-page decision.

Removing Hafner at this stage, after some ballots have already been sent out, would also cause confusion, fear of fraud, and other harms to the public, the judge added.

“In sum, an injunction threatens a successful administration of the election process, harming the defendants without adequate protection, while the plaintiffs face only minimal harm,” he said. “Most concerning to the court is the harm to the public and the integrity of the election, which would be truly irreparable.”

Hafner received 0.43 percent of the vote in the primary earlier this year, or the sixth-most votes. By contrast, Peltola received 50.9 percent of the vote.

The top four vote-getters advance from the primary under Alaska’s system. Hafner was placed on the ballot after two candidates who finished ahead of him withdrew.

The U.S. Constitution states that U.S. representatives must be a resident of the state in which they’re elected, but Wheeles said that doesn’t mean Hafner cannot be a candidate.

“There is no dispute that Hafner is not residing in Alaska today. But there is no requirement under law that he reside in Alaska today, in the past, or in the future at any time prior to the day ‘when elected’ to office,” he said.

Hafner was sentenced to 20 years in prison in December 2023 for making bomb threats to elected officials, police, and others.

The Alaska Democratic Party and Anita Thorne, a voter who plans to cast her vote for Peltola, appealed the ruling. The Alaska Supreme Court in a 4–1 ruling on Sept. 12 upheld the Superior Court decision.

The court said that a full opinion explaining why will be issued at a later date.

The majority was made up of Chief Justice Peter Maassen and Justices Dario Borghesan, Jennifer Henderson, and Jude Pate.

Justice Susan Carney dissented. She said she would have reversed the lower court ruling. The dissent did not include a reason why.

In a statement to news outlets, Alaska Solicitor General Jessie Alloway and other officials who offered opposition to the lawsuit thanked the Alaska Supreme Court for “preventing any disruption to the election.”

Mike Wenstrup, chairman of the Alaska Democratic Party, said in a statement that keeping Hafner on the ballot “sets a dangerous precedent and is embarrassing for our state.”