Attorney General Todd Blanche on Sunday defended the Trump administration’s lawsuit seeking to block certification of Alaska’s Senate results if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses, arguing that the legal challenge is a necessary step to avoid confusing voters in the closely watched midterm race.

President Donald Trump, who said Friday that he was “the one that said do it,” is not trying to overturn state election results “in any way, shape or form” on the cusp of the Nov. 3 election, Blanche told CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“We wish that we didn’t have to do this. We hope for a resolution that works,” Blanche said.

Republicans fear that a second candidate on the ballot who shares the senator’s name — a retired teacher and school administrator from the tiny fishing community of Petersburg — could siphon away votes from Sullivan and tip the outcome in favor of Democrat Mary Peltola, a former congresswoman.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday. A day later, Peltola called it “just flagrant, flagrant corruption in my opinion” and described it as a diversion tactic by Republicans. Alaska’s other Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski, also criticized the lawsuit in a social media post.

Trump told reporters on Sunday that he believed the ballot was illegal because it was unfair, and that Sullivan should be identified to voters as the sitting senator. “At least let him use the name Sen. Dan Sullivan as opposed to incumbent, because a lot of people don’t know what incumbent means,” Trump said.

Under the current format, Alaskan voters will see “Dan S. Sullivan” identified as a “registered Republican” and “incumbent” on their ballots, while “Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.” will appear with no party affiliation.

Blanche represented Trump as a personal attorney before the Republican president appointed him to lead the Department of Justice, which filed the lawsuit in Alaska; the complaint is available via CourtListener. Blanche previously defended Trump in his election interference case before voters elected Trump to a second White House term, effectively ending the criminal prosecution.

Blanche told CNN host Dana Bash that it was “crazy” for her to ask whether Trump was trying to lay the groundwork for the same sort of election challenges that occurred before a mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

“We are not doing anything improper. We’re not doing anything we’re not allowed to do. And we have to let the process play,” Blanche said. “But I do think it’s important for the American people to understand that we are not — (and) President Trump is not — trying to take over a state election in any way shape or form.”

The lawsuit, he told CBS’ “Face the Nation,” is meant to “put guardrails in place” to preserve possible evidence of voter confusion at the polls.

“It’s not saying, ‘Don’t certify.’ It’s saying, ‘If a court ultimately determines that it was decided because of confusion and not the will of the voters, then we do not think the states should certify.’ And that’s consistent with federal law and consistent with even Alaskan law, if that happens,” he said.

Certification is the formal step at which a state confirms its election results, and it comes only after ballots are counted. Because the suit targets that step rather than the counting itself, its central question — whether voter confusion, rather than the will of the voters, decided the race — would only come into play after Alaskans vote on Nov. 3.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com.