Miller sues as write-in ballot count about to begin in Alaska

Republican Joe Miller has filed a lawsuit in an attempt to prevent state elections officials from counting write-in ballots that don't accurately spell Sen. Lisa Murkowski's (R-Alaska) full name. 

The Tea Party favorite wants a judge to bar the state division of elections from weighing voter intent with write-in ballots that contain a variation on or misspelling of Murkowski's name. 

Miller's attorney, Thomas Van Flein, who was also former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's (R) attorney, wants a hearing Wednesday afternoon. 

The lawsuit comes after Miller made up ground in Tuesday's count of some 27,000 absentee votes. Miller netted around 2,100 votes, according to updated totals from the division of elections. Currently, the number of write-in votes leads Miller's vote total by 11,333 votes.   

Despite the lawsuit, elections officials plan to begin sorting and then counting the ballots at 1 p.m. EST on Wednesday. The ballots will be sorted into a number of different categories, according to guidelines released Tuesday by the state division of elections. 

Officials plan to separate unquestioned write-in ballots, which have the correct spelling of Murkowski's name, and ballots on which the incumbent's name is not spelled correctly. Those ballots will then be "reviewed to determine voter intent." 

Miller's lawsuit argues those ballots should simply be discounted.