Reason why Alaska, Kansas, and Mississippi still don’t have a winner days after the midterm elections
It has now been several days since the US midterm elections took place, and despite the Democrats winning control of both chambers of Congress, there are still some states in which winners have not yet been announced.
The midterms have already marked a huge shift in the balance of power in Washington after the Democrats made substantial gains, flipping more than 30 Republican-held seats in the House of Representatives. The blue party also bagged at least seven Republican-held seats in the Senate, taking control of the upper chamber.
However, there are three US states in which the winners have of the Senate race and the governor races have not yet been announced.
Alaska
The state of Alaska currently has two outstanding contests in both the Senate race and the governor's race. This is largely down to the fact Alaska is a geographically huge place, which has many remote communities that can only be reached by boat or plane.
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From a logistical standpoint, it makes perfect sense that Alaska needs a longer timeframe to count all their votes, considering postal ballots have a longer arrival window.
Alaska also uses ranked-choice voting, which means a second round of counting may well be necessary if no one receives more than 50 percent of first choice votes. If this does become a necessity, the ranked choice vote isn't due to take place until November 18.
"Alaska does it different than everyone," Derek Tisler, counsel with the Brennan Center’s Elections and Government Program explained to CNN.
"It’s such a unique state given its geography, given how remote it is and how expansive it is. So voters in all other 49 states are going to be a little confused about how things are done in Alaska when paying attention for the first time."
Mississippi
Meanwhile, down in the south east, Mississippi is yet to declare the winner of their Senate race as thousands of provisional ballots are still expected to be counted.
Provisional votes are temporary votes cast by people whose eligibility to vote cannot immediately be confirmed at a polling station. This can be due to a number of different reasons, such as their name not appearing on the electoral register, missing ID or even if they've turned up at the wrong polling station. It also includes anyone with postal voting issues, such as if records suggest they've already requested or submitted a postal ballot.
As it stands, around 96 percent of the ballots have so far been counted, with Democrat Scott Colom was leading Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith by 1,145 votes. The state has until November 10 to resolve the outstanding provisional ballots. With the voting so close, these remaining ballots could be the decider on who wins.
Kansas
Over in Kansas, the governor's race currently remains uncalled, even though around 99 percent of votes have been counted.
So far, Democrat Cindy Holscher is ahead of Republican Ty Masterson with just 7,045 votes, which is a margin of less than one percentage point.
The results have been a significant setback for the Trump administration and the Republican party, who previously controlled both chambers.
Topics: US News, Politics, Donald Trump
Emma Rosemurgey
