Miller is asking a judge to prevent the state from making a judgment on a voter's intention. Alaska's election law calls for write-in ballots to have the oval filled in and either the candidate's last name or name as it appears on the official declaration of candidacy written in.
But Lt. Gov. Craig Campbell, who is responsible for Alaska elections, has said he will accept minor misspellings of Murkowski's name if the "voter intent" is clear.
Voter intent goes to the heart of Bush v. Gore, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that ultimately declared George W. Bush the winner of the 2000 presidential contest after a lengthy -- and nasty -- recount in Florida. Miller's complaint cites the case by name.
The high court ruled that the Florida Supreme Court violated the Constitution's equal protection clause by failing to adopt uniform standards for determining voter intent.
OK, so far he's in the clear. After all, if the SCOTUS suggested that a fair and objective standard be applied to counting votes to determine voter intent and that makes sense. Otherwise, both sides would fight over votes where the intent was less than clear.
However, here's where Miller is being very liberal in his application of "Bush v. Gore": ""Our consideration is limited to the present circumstances, for the problem of equal protection in election processes generally presents many complexities."
*A-Hem*!
In other words, the Court has made it abidingly clear that "Bush v. Gore" was so hastily decided that none of it should be applied to any circumstance beyond that one instance!
Miller's correct for trying, but here's the laughable part. As a Teabagger candidate, Miller is directly in conflict with his entire party's platform of respect for conservatism, respect for the law, and as minimal application of that law as possible.
Legally, he's on solid ground. After all...and I wish Al Gore had done this...it is wholly appropriate to use any legal means necessary to obtain an elective office in a winner-takes-all environment. Politically, he's relying on the short-term memory of voters.
Considering his boss, Sarah Palin, couldn't even identify the case when she was a candidate for Vice President in 2008, he's likely on safe ground there, as well. Too, it's not like he's the Democrat (or even Murkowski) trying to slide one under the door.
But this ought to be noted for the record that Joe Miller is a lying thieving weasel trying to burn the voters of Alaska out of their elective and collective voice. he ought to be jailed!
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