ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Alaska's Republican-run state government on Saturday urged a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed at President Donald Trump's direction to stop the certification of a possible Democratic win in that state's pivotal U.S. Senate race, writing that there is "no reason for this Court to entertain this meritless lawsuit any longer." The scathing filing from the state's attorney general's office comes as U.S. District Court Judge Sharon L. Gleason set a deadline of Saturday for arguments over whether she should dismiss the lawsuit without even a hearing.

The complaint from the U.S. Department of Justice has been roundly criticized by election law experts and demands that the judge halt certification of a possible win by Democrat Mary Peltola until it is determined whether voters were confused by the presence of a second candidate on the ballot with the same name as her main rival, Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.

The Department of Justice on Friday added a request that the judge separate all ballots showing votes for the second Dan Sullivan until it can be determined whether voters were fooled into wasting their votes for a spoiler candidate.