(UPDATED)In what the website Conservatives4Palin has dubbed "Operation Alaska Chaos," supporters of Republican Senate candidate Joe Miller have launched an effort to stymie would-be Lisa Murkowski voters by registering a large group of citizens as write-in candidates. Murkowski, the incument senator who is running as a write-in candidate after losing in the GOP primary to Miller, won a court decision this week that will allow voters to get a list of certified write-in candidates at the polls (the decision is still facing an appeal).
If the list of write-in candidates contains scores of names, the thinking goes, Murkowski's name will be buried.
The Anchorage Daily News reports:
KFQD 750 AM radio host Dan Fagan, a Miller backer, urged voters to sign up in an act of “civil disobedience” — defying what he calls an illegal effort by the state.
“Rush on over there before 5 o’clock and register as a write-in candidate. Especially if your last name is Murkowski. That would really help the cause,” Fagan told listeners Thursday afternoon. ...
A list of candidates on the Division of Elections website included more than 40 write-in names late Thursday, but employees at the Anchorage office said other names were still being processed.
Sarah Palin, meanwhile, slammed Murkowski -- or, as Palin called her, "the candidate for the entitlement party" -- at a pro-Miller rally in Anchorage Thursday night.
UPDATE: Murkowski campaign spokesman Steve Wackowski tells Salon that "Operation Alaska Chaos" could cause problems for people in Alaska -- including native Alaskans -- whose first language is not English.
"I think it shows the desperation of Miller's supporters. Quite frankly, I think it's pretty sad," he said. "For someone who is dyslexic or needs assistance, it's dissappointing ... but we're not shocked. "
The Murkowski camp is distributing wristbands, cards, and buttons with the candidate's name to assist write-in voters.
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