those votes challenged by Miller. At that point, even if all the challenged ballots were thrown out, Murkowski would still lead by about 2,200 votes. Hoping to pick up additional votes, the Miller campaign demanded a hand recount of the entire election, claiming that because Murkowski's votes were all verified by visual inspection, Miller's should also have the same, individualized treatment. The Director of the Division of Elections replied that the State does not do recounts completely by hand; it uses optical scan equipment. State court lawsuits After filing the federal lawsuit, Miller began a second legal action against Alaska election officials, this time, in State court, asking to inspect and count signatures of voters in more than 30 precincts. In support of the suit, Miller provided affidavits that cited, among other things, a ballot box that was not secured, and signatures that appeared similar. On November 16, the State election authorities agreed to provide Miller with the requested information. The Associated Press noted that similar signatures could be caused by voters requesting and receiving aid in filling out ballots, and that the affidavits suggesting fraud had been mostly by Miller supporters. Shortly after, U.S. District Court Judge Beistline directed Miller to move his complaint to State court saying that the Alaska courts were in a better position than U.S. federal courts, to apply Alaska law to decide who won the election. But Beistline also said he would "review any constitutional issues that may exist once the state remedies have been exhausted". Miller then filed his second State case in Fairbanks where he lives, essentially repeating the allegations in his federal lawsuit Complaint, but adding new claims of vote fraud and bias. State attorneys succeeded in getting the case moved to the State capital in Juneau where the disputed ballots were being held and where the Alaska Division of Elections is located. The State also asked for an expedited ruling so that Alaska would not deprived of full representation in the upcoming Senate session. After briefs and oral arguments, Judge William Carey of the Superior Court in Juneau disagreed with Miller's arguments, saying that if the Alaska Legislature had intended that a candidate's name must be spelled perfectly to count, it would have written the law to say that. Carey also dismissed Miller's assertions of vote fraud and other irregularities as unfounded. Miller's campaign replied that Carey's ruling modifies State