Alaska and Mississippi Senate races remain uncalled as ballot counts continue
U.S. PoliticsWell-covered
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The Facts
- Mary Peltola led Republican incumbent Dan S. Sullivan by about 600 votes in Alaska’s uncalled Senate race.
- Alaska election officials were still counting ballots from remote communities.
- Alaska will accept eligible mailed ballots through November 18.
- Peltola’s campaign sued Alaska election officials for records identifying rejected absentee ballots.
- Alaska officials said state law did not require release of the preliminary absentee-ballot information.
- Mississippi’s Senate race between Scott Colom and Cindy Hyde-Smith also remained too close to call.
- Alaska uses ranked-choice voting, which can require additional tabulation if no candidate wins a majority.
Context
Why could Alaska’s result take longer to determine?
Ballots from rural and remote parts of Alaska were still being counted, and the state accepts eligible mailed ballots through November 18. Alaska’s ranked-choice system can also require further tabulation if no candidate receives a majority. Reuters https://www.localne… Taylorville Daily N…
What is Peltola’s lawsuit seeking?
Peltola’s campaign seeks records showing whose absentee ballots were rejected and why, saying the information is needed to assess whether votes were properly counted. State officials say the preliminary information is protected from release. Anchorage Daily News Alaska Public Media
Which Senate races were still unresolved?
The uncalled races were Alaska, between Peltola and Sullivan, and Mississippi, between Democrat Scott Colom and Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith. https://www.localne… Taylorville Daily N…
Where Left and Right agree
Left and right largely agree on this one.
- What both sides accept
- A roughly 600-vote margin with ballots still being counted from remote communities means the outcome is genuinely unsettled and warrants real scrutiny, not quiet acceptance.
- Where Left and Right differ in emphasis
- Whether the priority is transparency — releasing records on rejected absentee ballots to the public — or procedural rigor — exhausting every lawful challenge before conceding.
How left and right read it
When a Senate seat turns on roughly 600 votes, every rejected absentee ballot is a real person's vote, and that weight falls hardest on remote communities whose ballots officials are still counting. Alaska says state law does not require releasing that preliminary information, but secrecy is the thing that needs justifying here, not scrutiny. Release the records while the count is still underway.
Legitimacy rests on following the rules exactly, and a lead of roughly 600 votes leaves no room for error. Nothing is settled. Alaska is still counting ballots from remote communities, accepts eligible mailed ballots through November 18, and uses ranked-choice voting that can require further tabulation — so with Mississippi also too close to call, pressing every lawful challenge before conceding is the discipline these contests demand.
“The Republicans are mounting a rearguard legal battle to prevent the loss of two traditionally safe Senate seats.” — The Telegraph
The receipts — 18 sources
Wire services (1)
Independent coverage (17)
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