Judge rules to allow imprisoned U.S. House candidate to appear on ballot

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - A man who is serving a 20-year prison sentence in federal prison for threatening elected officials in New Jersey has been determined eligible for November’s general election ballot for Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat.

On Tuesday, Anchorage Superior Court Judge Ian Wheeles dismissed the lawsuit brought forth by the Alaska Democratic Party to remove Democrat Eric Hafner from the ballot. With the dismissal, Hafner will run for the U.S. House seat against incumbent Rep. Mary Peltola, Republican Nick Begich, and Alaska Independence Party candidate John Wayne Howe.

The plaintiffs argued that Hafner running as a Democrat would confuse voters and -- they say -- cause harm to the Democrats by associating the party with a convicted felon.

The judge dismissed both claims by stating that ranked-choice voting “neutralizes” harm, as every voter can rank all candidates however they choose. Furthermore, he said affiliation belongs to candidates, not the party.

The judge also ruled that removing Hafner from the ballot would cause significant harm to the division of elections and the public. The division would have to reprint ballots, which would cause it to miss state and federal deadlines for ballot printing.

Additionally, the judge said that even though Hafner does not reside in Alaska today, the U.S. Constitution only requires him to reside there if elected, and the court cannot weigh in on the probability of that.

Finally, the judge ruled that candidates who finish lower than 5th in the primary can move up the ballot to replace those who withdraw from the general election race, calling the statute in question " exemplary, not exhaustive.”

Saying they plan to appeal the ruling, Democratic Party Executive Director Lindsay Kavanaugh said, “We’re disappointed by the judge’s ruling but remain confident Peltola will win in Nov. Unlike the Republican Party, we don’t have to scheme to win by asking candidates to drop out until a convicted felon gets on the general election ballot who received less than half a percentage of the votes cast during the primary. We have more respect than that for voters in Alaska; clearly, our candidates are more viable than theirs.”

Vice Chair of the Alaska Democratic Party Jessica Cook said in a statement to Alaska’s News Source that Republican candidates helped contribute to the inclusion of Hafner on the ballot.

“Thanks to Nick Begich and the Republican Party, Alaskans may have a felon incarcerated in New York as a candidate for Congress and ... definitely do have a convicted felon from New York as a candidate for President on [the] ballot in November,” Cook said. “Alaskans deserve better.”

This goes back to last week when the Alaska Democrats filed the lawsuit; its attorneys made several arguments for why Hafner, who is running as a Democrat but is not affiliated with the Alaska Democratic Party, should be disqualified.

The attorneys first argued that state law does not allow a candidate who placed sixth in the primary election to appear on the ballot due to other candidates leaving the race. The statute only mentions those who finish fifth.

“If a candidate nominated at the primary election dies, withdraws, resigns, becomes disqualified from holding office for which the candidate is nominated, or is certified as being incapacitated in the manner prescribed by this section after the primary election and 64 or more days before the general election, the vacancy shall be filled by the director by replacing the withdrawn candidate with the candidate who received the fifth most votes in the primary election,” the law states.

Hafner finished sixth in the primary election with less than 500 votes, but moved up when third-place finisher Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom and fourth-place finisher Matthew Salisbury — both Republicans — withdrew from the election.

Alaska Independence Party candidate John Wayne Howe, who finished fifth, is now on the ballot, but the lawsuit does not question his legitimacy.

Second, the lawsuit states Hafner is a convicted felon serving a 20-year federal prison sentence in New York.

Hafner, who was a New Jersey resident at the time of his sentencing, is appealing his sentence, but the lawsuit states that he would unlikely be able to establish residency if elected.

Attorneys cite Article 1, Section 2, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution which “prohibits anyone from serving as a member of Congress who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant that State in which he shall be chosen.”

Lastly, the lawsuit argued that according to state law, a “person who seeks to become a candidate in the primary election or a special primary election shall execute and file a declaration of candidacy that lists the full residence address of the candidate, and the date on which residency at that address began.”

The plaintiffs argue that Hafner’s submission is “deficient” because it submitted only a mail forwarding service, not a residential address or a date on which residency at that address began.

Hafner’s candidacy form lists the mailing address in Box Elder, South Dakota.

The assistant attorney general for the State of Alaska argued that the Division of Elections and the public would suffer certain irreparable harm if the Court ordered Hafner removed from the ballot.

State attorneys argued that if the division had to stop printing ballots and print new ones, it would miss state and federal deadlines, “jeopardizing the success of the entire general election.”

The state argued that “printing all of the ballots will cost the State about $300,000 and take about two and a half weeks. If the Division were to stop printing and re-print ballots without Mr. Hafner as a candidate, it would incur additional costs.”

Furthermore, the state argued that the state law in question by the plaintiff’s attorney, which — according to the plaintiff’s interpretation — prevents a candidate who placed sixth in the primary election from appearing on the ballot due to candidates leaving the race, “is best read to require successive replacement of withdrawn candidates, so that in the event of withdrawals, four remaining candidates advance to the general election wherever possible.”

Additionally, the state said the lawsuit is more about Hafner’s candidacy causing “irreparable harm” to Peltola’s reelection effort now that there is one Republican on the ballot instead of three, and two Democrats on the ballot instead of one.

“They believe that Mr. Hafner’s candidacy will ‘confuse” voters and divert votes from Representative Peltola because some voters might rank only Mr. Hafner,” the state argued.

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