An Alaska judge will rule by Friday on Republican candidate Joe Miller’s lawsuit concerning the counting of write-in ballots for his Senate race, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.
 
Judge William Carey heard arguments for nearly two hours Wednesday. Miller seeks to force the state to strictly follow its election laws, and a decision in his favor could lead to a recount in his race against Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who ran as a write-in candidate in the general election after losing the primary to Miller. Any decision is expected to be appealed to the state Supreme Court.

A hand count of write-in ballots showed Murkowski ahead by 10,328 votes, or 2,169 when excluding votes challenged by Miller.

Carey said Wednesday that he would try to rule by Thursday but that he might take until Friday.