A judge has tossed a lawsuit by the Trump administration that sought to delay certifying results in Alaska's crucial Senate race if the Republican incumbent loses.
The suit by the US Department of Justice argued that having two candidates named Dan Sullivan on the ballot could cause "voter confusion" and take support from incumbent Republican Dan S Sullivan.
The judge ruled that the federal government doesn't have authority to force Alaska to segregate and investigate any ballots in the three-way race between Sullivan, Daniel J Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola.
The Alaska Senate contest is considered one the closest in the Tuesday midterms, where control of Congress will be up for grabs.
"The United States provides no workable plan as to how it proposes to segregate ballots cast for Daniel J. Sullivan on Election Day and then conduct a court-ordered unspecified 'investigation' of those ballots in a manner that would preserve voter secrecy," US District Judge Sharon Gleason wrote in the ruling.
Alaska voters have the right to a secret ballot, she wrote, adding that regardless, such a move by the justice department would be too late as it is only days before the midterm election. Many voters have already cast their ballots in early voting and postal voting.
After the ruling, the justice department said it would file to appeal. It said in a statement that the court dismissed the federal case on "procedural grounds but did not dispute the argument of the United States that Daniel J. Sullivan (a/k/a Decoy Dan) entered the race as a frivolous candidate to confuse voters".
"Alaskan voters deserve a fair election, not to be misled in an attempt to rig outcomes," the statement continued.
Asked about the lawsuit last month, President Donald Trump said he had directed the justice department to file it.
"All of a sudden he decides to run for the Senate, and his name is Dan Sullivan. One is Daniel S., one is Daniel J. The Daniel J. is the fake," Trump told reporters.
Daniel J Sullivan, the little-known candidate running with no party affiliation, had previously told The New York Times he has voted both Democrat and Republican in the past.
Senator Dan S Sullivan, the incumbent Republican, and his allies have accused the Democrats of trying to confuse voters.
Then last week, controversy erupted when The New York Times reported that Democrats on Peltola's team worked with people who tried to recruit spoiler candidates in the Senate race.
Peltola has denied she knowing anything about an alleged "scheme" that led to the two Dan Sullivans standing in the race.
The Alaska race is considered by analysts to be one of the tightest in the upcoming US midterm elections, which will decide which party controls Congress for the last two years of Trump's presidency.
