Democrat Governor Accuses Trump Of Trying To Rig Tuesday’s Midterms, Citing Controversial Alaska Case

Illnois Governor JB Pritzker has accused President Donald Trump of trying to rig Tuesday's vote, weaponize the Department of Justice (DOJ) against his political opponents and encourage the Republican Governor in Alaska not to certify the election results if Democrats win.

Responding to a question about Alaska's Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy refusing to confirm in an interview on Thursday that the state would certify the midterm election results if the Democrats' Senate candidate Mary Peltola wins, Pritzker stressed that Trump's influence was corroding the reliability of the American electoral process.

"It's important for us to recognize that that governor is being influenced by Donald Trump. Donald Trump of course wants to prosecute all of his opponents, he has threatened to jail me ... [he] brings up the law now as a weapon and uses his DOJ against Dems across the country," the Democrat politician told Kristen Welker of NBC's "Meet the Press" show on Sunday.

The Alaskan case relates to accusations by Republicans that the Democrats recruited a candidate (Dan J Sullivan) with the same name as the incumbent Republican Senator Dan S Sullivan in order to confuse voters and encourage accidental votes for the non-Republican candidate, who is a retired teacher running for the Alaskan Senate seat with no party designation.

Peltola's campaign denies knowing of a scheme designed to confuse voters, but the DOJ is taking legal action and has opened a criminal investigation into the case, which the U.S. Attorney for the District of Alaska Michael Heyman said was "ongoing" on Friday.

However, experts have said that it is unlikely a crime has been committed, and the Justice Department said itself on Friday that the case may not result in criminal charges.

Republican Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina also appeared on Welker's show on Sunday, and refused to say that he would accept the results if a Peltola win was certified.

"You can't trust Mary Peltola's campaign ... it actually is a federal offense to confuse voters," Scott said.

For Pritzker, the Alaska case is emblematic of a wider attempt by Trump to rig Tuesday's elections which, according to polls, will likely see Democrats wrest the House and possibly the Senate from Republican control.

"Donald Trump is trying to rig these elections and if he's able to do so, then you are going to see Republican majorities which just follow Donald Trump's lead no matter what he says, making sure that Democrats really don't have a chance in so many places across the countries," Pritzker continued.

Trump has made unsubstantiated claims about widespread voter fraud ahead of the midterms, offering $1 million rewards to Americans who report cases of voter fraud that end in conviction, but has said that he will accept the results of Tuesday's vote "if they are honest."

Democrats are reportedly preparing for the possibility that the president, on the basis of these claims of fraud or allegations of foreign interference, will dispute the election results if Democrats win.

"We're making the assumption that the president is not going to accept the results of what looks to be a very challenging election for him and his party," Democrat Congressman Jim Himes has said.