What’s delaying US Senate election results in Mississippi and Alaska?
Two contests remain undecided
The Mississippi and Alaska Senate races are the final contests still being tallied. Democrats regained control of both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections, and winning both remaining seats would reduce the number of Republican defections they would need to avoid a filibuster.
A filibuster allows a minority party to stall legislation indefinitely. It can be overcome with 60 votes in the Senate.
Mississippi count stays close
The Mississippi contest between Democrat Mike Espy and Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith remained too close to call. The Associated Press reported both candidates had about 49 percent, with 96 percent of ballots counted.
As of Wednesday night, Espy led by 1,138 votes, with several thousand provisional and mail-in absentee ballots outstanding. State rules allow 10 days to process those votes; mail ballots can arrive within five business days after Election Day. Watson said counties must submit certified results by November 13. Mississippi has not voted for a Democratic president since 1976, and its last Democrat elected to statewide office was in 2015.
Alaska uses ranked choices
Mary Peltola led incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan by 637 votes as of Wednesday night, according to the AP. Alaska’s ranked-choice system lets voters rank candidates by preference. If no one receives more than 50 percent, the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated. Those ballots are then reassigned according to voters’ next preferences, prompting further rounds of counting.
Alaska is one of two states using ranked-choice voting in statewide elections. Critics have blamed the system for the slow tally.
Dispute over candidate names
The Alaska race has also faced scrutiny because two candidates named Dan Sullivan ran. Dan J Sullivan Jr, a retired schoolteacher, was widely rumoured to be a Democratic plant seeking to draw votes from the incumbent.
A federal judge dismissed a suit on Sunday. The Justice Department has said it will appeal, a step described as more likely if Peltola wins the count.
Key points
- Mississippi’s Senate race remained extremely close, with thousands of ballots still outstanding.
- Mary Peltola led Alaska incumbent Dan Sullivan by 637 votes Wednesday night.
- Alaska’s ranked-choice process could require additional rounds of counting.
- The Justice Department plans to appeal after a federal judge dismissed a suit over the Alaska race.