Mississippi and Alaska Senate Races Could Drag On for Days as Mail-In Ballots and Ranked Choice Slow the Count
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Extremely close Senate races in Mississippi and Alaska may not be decided for days or weeks because late-arriving mail-in, remote, and provisional ballots still have to be processed, while Alaska’s ranked-choice system adds another layer of delay.
The Senate contests in Mississippi and Alaska are too close to call, and officials say the final outcomes may not be known for days or even weeks as the vote count continues. In Mississippi, Democratic challenger Scott Colom holds a narrow lead of fewer than 100 votes over incumbent Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith after about 950,000 ballots were counted on Nov. 4. Mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day can still be counted for five additional days, and provisional ballots may require legal review, which extends the timeline.
"That might take us a very long time – days and weeks – to figure out exactly who the winner is in that very, very close election," said David Becker, a former DOJ voting-rights lawyer who runs the Center for Election Innovation & Research.
Becker noted that a recount request could further prolong the process. In Alaska, Democratic candidate Mary Peltola leads incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan by fewer than 1,000 votes with roughly 74% of ballots counted. The state’s remote precincts and a sizable military voter population, whose ballots can arrive up to 15 days after Election Day, add to the delay. If no candidate reaches a 50% threshold, Alaska’s ranked-choice voting will be triggered, with the redistribution of votes not beginning until Nov. 18.
"So it might be the second half of November where we get a really good sense of that," Becker added.