As of Wednesday night, the Senate contests in the southeastern state of Mississippi and the northwestern state of Alaska were the only remaining races awaiting final results. Both have attracted national attention, with narrow margins and thousands of uncounted ballots keeping the outcomes uncertain.
Democrats are currently expected to enter the 120th Congress on January 3 with a majority of at least 54 seats in the 100-member Senate. Winning both outstanding races would further strengthen their position and reduce the number of Republican defections they would need to overcome a filibuster.
A filibuster allows the minority party to indefinitely delay legislation in the Senate. Overcoming one requires a 60-member vote. The results in Mississippi and Alaska could therefore have a significant impact on the Democrats' ability to advance legislation.
Mississippi, traditionally a Republican stronghold, emerged as an unexpected Senate battleground in this year's elections. The state last voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in 1976 and last elected a Democrat to statewide office in 2015, more than a decade ago.
Despite the state's Republican dominance, the contest between incumbent Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, and Democratic challenger Scott Colom proved considerably closer than expected.
According to The Associated Press (AP), the race remains too close to call, with both candidates receiving approximately 49 percent of the vote. Around 96 percent of ballots have been counted so far.
As of Wednesday night, Colom was ahead of Hyde-Smith by just 1,138 votes. A few thousand provisional and mail-in absentee ballots are still awaiting counting, leaving the final outcome uncertain.
Provisional ballots, also known as “affidavit ballots”, are issued to voters whose eligibility cannot immediately be confirmed. This can occur when voters fail to present the required identification documents at their local polling precinct.
Mississippi allows 10 days for these ballots to be processed. Mail-in ballots, meanwhile, can be received within five business days after Election Day, according to state officials.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson said approximately 3,600 mail-in ballots remained to be counted, along with an unknown number of affidavit ballots.
“Counties have 10 days from the date of the election to submit their certified results to our office, which is November 13,” Watson wrote.
The state also has a specific legal complication in the event of a tie. Mississippi is the only state in the country without a formal provision that would automatically authorise a recount. Candidates seeking a recount in such circumstances would have to obtain a court order.
Meanwhile, the Senate contest in Alaska could take several days or even weeks to produce a definitive result. The state's vast rural distances and ranked-choice voting (RCV) system are among the factors affecting the counting process.
According to AP, Democratic candidate Mary Peltola was leading incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan by just 637 votes as of Wednesday night. Nearly a quarter of the ballots remain uncounted, making the contest one of the most closely watched Senate races in the country.
Alaska uses a ranked-choice voting system that allows voters to rank candidates according to their preferences. The system can involve multiple rounds of counting before a winner is declared.
During the initial count, election officials tally the candidates listed as voters' first choices. If any candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, that candidate wins outright.
However, if no candidate crosses the 50 percent threshold, the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated. A fresh round of counting then begins, with votes cast for the eliminated candidate redistributed according to voters' second preferences.
The elimination and redistribution process continues through successive rounds until one candidate secures a majority.
Alaska is one of only two states in the United States to use ranked-choice voting for statewide elections. Critics have blamed the system for slowing down the vote-counting process.
According to Alaska's Division of Elections, the ranked-choice voting results will not be published until November 18, 15 days after the election. This means the final outcome of the Senate race could remain uncertain until that date.
The Alaska contest has also come under scrutiny because of a controversy involving two candidates named Dan Sullivan.
One candidate, Dan S Sullivan, is the state's incumbent senator and an ally of President Trump. The other, Dan J Sullivan Jr, is a retired schoolteacher who has widely been rumoured to have been a Democratic plant intended to divert votes away from the incumbent.
President Trump's Department of Justice filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent Alaska from certifying its election results. The department argued that the participation of the second candidate named Sullivan amounted to an attempt to pervert voter choice.
However, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit on Sunday. Despite the setback, the Justice Department has pledged to appeal the decision. The possibility of an appeal has gained further significance as the legal dispute could become more consequential if Peltola ultimately prevails in the vote count.
With Mississippi's provisional and absentee ballots still pending and Alaska's ranked-choice voting results scheduled for November 18, both contests remain unresolved. Their outcomes will determine whether Democrats can expand their Senate majority beyond the 54 seats they are currently expected to hold as the 120th Congress prepares to convene on January 3.
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