Senate Democrats and attorneys for Alaska's Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola filed a motion on Friday asking a federal judge to dismiss the Trump administration's lawsuit, which raises issues with there being two similar names on the Alaska ballot. 

The Trump administration Thursday filed a lawsuit against Alaska and the state's elections officials, arguing that "voter confusion" stemming from the ballot having candidates with the same name could cost the incumbent, Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, his seat to Democrat Mary Peltola. 

Sen. Sullivan is running against Peltola and Dan J. Sullivan, and the lawsuit argues that Dan J. Sullivan's campaign is intended to mislead supporters of Sen. Sullivan into voting for the wrong person. 

“The sole purpose of [Dan J. Sullivan’s] candidacy is to benefit the Peltola campaign by reducing the number of votes for Senator Sullivan,” the federal government argues in the lawsuit. 

The Democrats' motion, filed on behalf of Peltola's campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), called the lawsuit filed by the Justice Department “an unprecedented pre-emptive strike on democratic elections," NBC News reported. 

The filing said that the case demands that defendants "refuse to certify the election if, and only if, Peltola wins,” which "is part of a nationwide attack on free elections by the federal government, which the DSCC has fought at every turn."