President Trump listens as Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska, who is running for reelection, speaks at an Oct. 13 campaign rally in Wasilla, Alaska. Alex Brandon/AP hide caption

Alex Brandon/AP

A federal judge has thrown out the Trump administration's highly unusual attempt to block the certification of results from a key U.S. Senate race in Alaska if the Republican incumbent loses.

In a ruling released Sunday, U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason found the federal government does not have the ability to bring this lawsuit. It asked the judge to stop state officials from certifying election results to allow for an investigation into whether voters were confused by having two similarly named Senate candidates appear on Alaska's ranked-choice ballot.

But Judge Gleason concluded that such a court order would likely violate Alaskan voters' right to a secret ballot .

"The absence of any explanation from the United States as to how its requested relief could redress its alleged injury while simultaneously…