This court ruling, released today, can’t be good news for Murky. Via Erika Bolstad at the Anchorage Daily News:

Calling it a “clear violation of Alaska administrative regulation,” a judge today ordered the state Division of Elections to remove a list of certified write-in candidates from polling places statewide.

State Superior Court Judge Frank Pfiffner’s order not only keeps the state from providing the list but also forbids poll workers from providing to voters the names of any write-in candidates

The state Division of Elections has been providing early voters who ask for assistance a list of all write-in candidates, and in one case actually posted the list at an early-voting location in Homer. The division had argued that it drew up the list because it anticipated an unusual number of questions about Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s write-in bid. The Alaska Democratic Party sued the state, asking it to drop the list at polling places, and the Alaska Republican Party joined the suit.

Both political parties said the lists, which have been distributed to polling places statewide, are a considerable change from the state’s previous write-in practices. It directly violated a state regulation that forbids allowing any information about write-in candidates at the polling place or within 200 feet of its entrance, the judge noted.

Pfiffner said that the division’s argument “rings hollow” in light of its past practices.

“If it were important ‘assistance’ for the division to provide voters with lists of write-in candidates, then the division has been asleep at the switch for the past 50 years. The division first developed the need for a write-in candidate list 12 days ago.”

[...]

The order is a blow for Sen. Lisa Murkowsi’s write-in campaign, which had joined the state Division of Elections in fighting efforts to do away with the list. Murkowski is taking on Republican Joe Miller and Democrat Scott McAdams in Tuesday’s election.

More here. It’s good to see that the influence of the Murkowski family has at least some limits in Alaska.

Update: More on this breaking story from Shira Toeplitz at the blog, Politico:

In a major blow to Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s campaign, an Alaska judge ruled Wednesday that election officials cannot hand out lists with the names of write-in candidates.

[...]

The judge’s ruling is no doubt a setback to Murkowski, whom polls showed is tied with Republican Joe Miller and Democrat Scott McAdams.

Not only does the judge’s ruling not allow poll workers to hand out a list of names of write-in candidates, it also prevents poll workers from verbally providing the names.

(h/t multiple C4P Readers)

Update II: (h/t Bill) Murky just tweeted her unhappiness with the judge’s ruling:

My campaign has real concerns with this morning’s Alaska court ruling: http://bit.ly/au21kr #AKsen #writeinlisa #AK

No surprise there. Murky wanted to cheat and an adult told her no. Murky’s full statement follows:

Anchorage, AK – Senator Lisa Murkowski’s (R-Alaska) write-in campaign released the following statement today.

“We believe that the Democratic and Republican Parties’ actions seek to disenfranchise Alaskans and limit votes from those who ask for assistance with the process. We remain confident that Alaskans who want to vote for Lisa Murkowski by filling in the oval and writing in her name will not be deterred,” said campaign manager Kevin Sweeney.

So there you have it. Not being allowed to cheat constitutes disenfranchisement in the murky world of…Murky.