AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "News Hour."

Candidates around the country are making their final campaign stops before Election Day with just three days left to go.

GEOFF BENNETT: President Trump is in Florida tonight and will then head to Iowa and Kansas, a last-minute change after initially canceling those rallies.

But we start our coverage tonight in Alaska, where a ballot lineup is stirring up a key Senate race, as the GOP presses the issue.

Our Lisa Desjardins has more.

LISA DESJARDINS: As a Justice Department investigation swirls, last night, a public denial from Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola.

REP.

MARY PELTOLA (D-AK), Senatorial Candidate: I just want to clear the air.

I knew nothing about any other candidates on the ballot except for me and the incumbent.

That is all I have ever known about.

I am not interested in tricking voters.

LISA DESJARDINS: Peltola is running against the incumbent, Republican Senator Dan Sullivan.

And in this key Senate race, the ballot has been a focal point of confusion and controversy.

Peltola's comments come after The New York Times found that her campaign and national Democrats recruited a retired schoolteacher named Dan J. Sullivan to run, stacking the ballot and potentially costing her actual opponent, Dan S. Sullivan, crucial votes.

As for Alaska voters, they appeared split on whether the scandal is damning or merely distracting.

PAT RACE, Alaska Voter: It feels like the accusation is that Mary has done something untoward, when we're talking about a president trying to overturn an election.

And that's where the focus should be.

JOHN DELGADO, Alaska Voter: I think there's no denying it.

And if I heard her say that it didn't happen or I didn't know nothing about it, I would just at that point just think even less of her because I believe she'd be lying.

I think the proof's there.

LISA DESJARDINS: Multiple outlets report the Justice Department has issued new grand jury subpoenas.

In California, the DOJ faced a setback.

An appeals court rejected its request to set aside some 20,000 ballots.

The department alleges they were sent to non-U.S.

citizens.

Across the country, millions of voters have already cast their ballots.

Early voting continues to outpace the last midterm elections, especially in closely watched states like Maine, where early voting has jumped more than 30 percent.

Republican Senator Susan Collins is seeking reelection for a sixth term.

Yesterday, she emphasized to voters her record of challenging the Trump administration.

SEN.

SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): There are several major issues where I've differed from the president,most notably his signature legislative accomplishment, the Big Beautiful Bill, which I voted against.

LISA DESJARDINS: In Ohio, Sherrod Brown is holding rallies with gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton, and he's a rarity, a former senator running against the status quo.

FMR.

SEN.

SHERROD BROWN (D-OH): We see people showing up like never before, angry, frustrated, and demanding change.

LISA DESJARDINS: In Pennsylvania, voters saw one of the last debates of the election.

PAIGE COGNETTI (D), Pennsylvania Congressional Candidate: This has been a war of choice, and the American people are waiting for answers, and we are not getting them.

LISA DESJARDINS: Scranton Mayor and Democrat Paige Cognetti raised the Iran war and incumbent Rob Bresnahan's votes against forcing it to end.

He insisted he has broken with Trump.

REP.

ROB BRESNAHAN (R-PA): I feel the mission has been accomplished and the war absolutely needs to end.

My concern would be ripping out the rug from underneath our service members that are serving overseas.

LISA DESJARDINS: Meantime, the biggest campaign donor in history, Elon Musk, said he fears the country moving toward a Democratic sweep, writing on his platform X: "This would result in America becoming a permanent one-party state and the end of democracy."

STATE REP.

JAMES TALARICO (D-TX), Senatorial Candidate: This Senate seat doesn't belong to Elon Musk.

This Senate seat belongs to you.

LISA DESJARDINS: In Texas yesterday, James Talarico accused Musk and other donors of bankrolling his opponent, state Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The president himself is in Florida tonight after spending yesterday campaigning in South Carolina.

There, Trump voters voiced support for him.

EDWARD UDOVIDCHIK, South Carolina Voter: It's a little scary about the inflation, because it's all going on with this war.

But I trust Trump.

He will be good.

LISA DESJARDINS: And civic duty all the way from the Vatican.

Pope Leo has mailed his ballot to his hometown Chicago, becoming the first pontiff in history to participate in a U.S.

election.

The Vatican didn't say which candidates he voted for, but that he -- quote -- "expresses his belief in the right and duty of citizens to participate."

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Lisa Desjardins.