LANSING, MI - Democratic candidate for governor Abdul El-Sayed wants the Court of Claims to rule on whether he's eligible for the ballot, but the Secretary of State in new filings Tuesday said that request was premature.

At issue is El-Sayed's residency. The constitution requires a candidate for governor to "have been a registered elector in this state for four years next preceding his election." El-Sayed, according to voting records obtained in a Bridge investigation, lived in New York and was registered to vote in New York as late as in 2015. He re-registered to vote in Michigan in 2016.

The Michigan Democratic Party asked El-Sayed to get a ruling on his eligibility in order to avoid a potentially lengthy and costly residency challenge later on in the cycle.

El-Sayed did so in March, filing against Secretary of State Ruth Johnson in Wayne County Circuit Court and claiming he had been a continuous resident of Michigan, despite having worked in New York. The case has since been transferred to the Court of Claims.

Attorneys for the Secretary of State said in a legal filing Tuesday his lawsuit was premature and asked the court to issue a summary judgement in Johnson's favor.

It's premature, attorneys for the Secretary of State argue, because "Neither Secretary Johnson nor anyone else within the Department of State has taken any action, or even hinted at taking any action, adverse to Plaintiff's candidacy."

The department has processed El-Sayed's petition signatures, required for him to get on the ballot, as normal. Nobody has yet filed a challenge to his eligibility and thus no "actual controversy" exists, the Secretary of State argued.

Anybody could file a challenge to El-Sayed's eligibility, noted the Secretary of State, and the deadline to do so is May 1. The department argued that if such a challenge materializes and the Board of State Canvassers decides on it, El-Sayed could seek judicial input at that time.

Adam Joseph, a spokesman for El-Sayed, said in a statement the Secretary of State's filing confirmed El-Sayed's position that he was eligible to run for governor.

"In their move to dismiss the case, they have asserted, clearly, that this is a manufactured controversy - vindicating what we have been saying all along," Joseph said in a statement.

The MDP also framed the development as being positive.

"This is a positive step forward that allows all of our great candidates to stay focused on the issues that really matter to the people of Michigan and keeps the Democratic Party concentrated on winning in November," said Chairman Brandon Dillon in a statement.

The court has not yet made any decision on the case.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This story has been updated with additional comment.