[3] Murkowski announced that despite her defeat in the Republican primary, she would run in the general election as a write-in candidate.

[11] Alaska's primary elections at the time, from 2000 to 2020, had voters make a choice between a closed primary ballot for Republican candidates, open to voters that have declared themselves as Republicans, nonpartisan, or undeclared, and, since 2004, a combined open primary ballot for Democrats, Libertarians, the Alaska Independence Party, and all other declared or write-in candidates, open to voters of any declaration.

[31] On August 29, 2010, however, the executive board of the state Libertarian Party voted not to consider allowing Murkowski on its ticket for the U.S. Senate race.

[33] On September 13, Libertarian candidate David Haase reiterated that he would not stand down and let Murkowski replace him on the ballot.

[34] Murkowski announced on September 17 that she would enter the general election contest as a write-in candidate, saying she had agonized over the decision, but had been encouraged to run by many voters.

Tony Hopfinger, of the Alaska Dispatch, was detained and handcuffed until Anchorage police arrived and released him following a townhall event featuring Miller.

[36] In an October 18, 2010 interview, Miller admitted that he had been disciplined for an ethics violation while serving as an assistant attorney for the Fairbanks North Star Borough;[37] he characterized the offense as "petty".

[38] Miller's personnel file showed that he used coworkers' computers to vote multiple times in an online poll.

On October 27, The Guardian reported that Sarah Palin and other well-known conservatives were scheduled to "rush to the aid of the beleaguered Tea Party-backed candidate for the US Senate, Joe Miller, after newly released documents reveal he lied about a computer tampering scandal".

A lawsuit was filed alleging that the Alaska Division of Elections was violating AAC, 25.070, which reads in part: "Information regarding a write-in candidate may not be discussed, exhibited or provided at the polling place, or within 200 feet of any entrance to the polling place, on election day.

[45][46] On Election Day, the write-in ballots were counted, but not examined: determining for which candidate they were cast was deferred.

The Division of Election officials responded that any recount of non-write-in votes would not be done by hand, but would be done using optical scanners.

[72] The federal court also put a halt to the certification of the election pending rulings on Miller's lawsuits.

Miller then filed suit in State court, repeating the claims he had previously made, and adding allegations of vote fraud and bias.

[77][78] On December 26, Miller announced that he would be withdrawing his opposition for Murkowski's Senate certification, but would continue pursuing his federal case.