Election officials in Alaska filed a motion Monday night asking a federal judge to “immediately” dismiss the lawsuit brought by the Justice Department seeking to block the results of the state’s Senate race should incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan lose, claiming it has “no legal basis.” The lawsuit was filed Friday, just 11 days before the general election and as Alaskans have already begun voting in what is expected to be a highly competitive race that could determine control of the Senate.

Lawyers for the Justice Department argue that the presence of another candidate on the ballot, Dan J. Sullivan, could confuse voters who may vote for him instead of the sitting senator. In fact, they argue that Dan J. Sullivan decided to run for senator “with the intention of misleading supporters of Senator Sullivan into voting for him,” for the “sole purpose” of benefiting Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola by reducing the number of votes for Sullivan. But state election officials argue they have taken appropriate precautions to prevent such confusion.

“Although Alaska faces an unusual situation in which two candidates for U.S. Senator share a first and last name, the Division has taken significant steps to distinguish them on the ballot so that voters can easily determine which candidate is which,” Alaska election officials wrote in the motion to dismiss the case. “But the United States lacks authority to intervene in state elections at all, much less in support of a favored candidate.”

This comes after Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee filed a motion Friday urging Judge Sharon Gleason to dismiss the Justice Department’s lawsuit, which Common Cause and the League of Women Voters, represented by the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, later joined.

“DOJ filed this lawsuit in the midst of the ongoing general election, less than two weeks before election day, raising issues governed exclusively by state law that were definitively resolved by the Alaska Supreme Court months ago,” lawyers for Peltola’s campaign and the DSCC said in the filing. “The Court should not allow this lawsuit to hang like the Sword of Damocles over the ongoing election, lending false legitimacy to the President’s and the Attorney General’s ongoing efforts to spread false narratives about Alaska’s elections as voting continues and as results begin to be tabulated next week.”

The Alaska Supreme Court ruled in June that Dan J. Sullivan could remain on the ballot, affirming a superior court order after Sullivan appealed a decision by state election officials who determined him ineligible to run after saying they received complaints that he had filed to run with the intent to confuse and mislead voters.

“To ensure that the appearance of two Daniel Sullivans on the ballot would not confuse voters, the Division designed the ballot to distinguish them as much as possible,” state election officials wrote in the filing.

The initial complaint filed by the Justice Department includes a photo of the general election ballot, which shows incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan labeled as a “registered Republican” and an “incumbent,” while Dan J. Sullivan is listed without a party designation next to his name. Additionally, state election officials outline steps voters can take should they remain uncertain, including asking for assistance from others or searching for additional information on their smart phones while voting. In the state’s June primary, Peltola received 49.5% of the vote, while Sullivan received 41.4% of the vote, and Dan J. Sullivan received just 2.5% of the vote, according to official results from the Alaska Division of Elections.

Prior to state election officials’ motion to dismiss the case, Gleason granted a motion by the Peltola campaign and the DSCC Monday night to fast-track the case, ordering the DOJ to respond to their motions by 8 p.m. ET Tuesday, setting the stage for a potential ruling on the dismissal of the case Thursday, ahead of Election Day.

Attorney General Todd Blanche posted to X Saturday defending the lawsuit, and continued to double down in media appearances over the weekend.

“The Department of Justice does not seek to stop any ballot from being cast or to stop the certification of Alaska’s election,” he said. “The lawsuit was written by Justice Department attorneys and the Department did not coordinate with any campaign or candidate, but rather relied solely on federal law.”

However, President Donald Trump said he had directed the DOJ to file the lawsuit.

“I’m the one that said to do it,” Trump said on his way to campaign in Florida Friday, as he and the administration face criticism for filing the lawsuit, including from Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

“Alaskans don’t need any help voting for their preferred candidates, and the State of Alaska has already handled this by clearly distinguishing the candidates on this year’s ballot,” she posted to X. “The Department of Justice should never have filed this lawsuit.”

The DOJ’s legal challenge comes amid concerns that the Trump administration will try to undermine the results of the upcoming election and marks an attempt preemptively to challenge results as the Republican Party faces poor polling and low approval ratings.

“If the United States wanted to keep Daniel J. [Sullivan] off the ballot, it should have intervened in the earlier litigation over that issue,” state election officials wrote in their filing. “Delaying certification of Alaska’s election results — but only if a particular candidate does not win — would interfere with state election administration and threaten election integrity.”

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