By CAMILLE BAKER Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The size of Democrats’ majorities in the House and Senate remained undetermined one week after Election Day as more than a dozen races were still too early to call Tuesday.
Democrats are on track to hold 54 Senate seats in January, but could pick up one or two more from Republicans as votes are counted in Alaska and Mississippi. With 255 seats in the House, Democrats will have their largest majority elected to the chamber since 2008, with the potential to pick up several more seats as the remaining races are called.
Here’s a look at where things stand in some of the uncalled races:
Mississippi’s Senate seat remains too early to call
Late in the afternoon Tuesday, Democrat Scott Colom was about 2,600 votes ahead of Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in the race for Senate in Mississippi.
There are two key deadlines in the vote-counting process in Mississippi this week: Mail-in absentee ballots must be received by Tuesday, and counties are required to submit their certified election results — including tallies of provisional ballots — to the state by Friday.
It is unclear exactly how many ballots are left to count.
Unlike in some other states, there is no central vote reporting system for Mississippi, and few counties release election results online. Instead, Associated Press journalists and analysts communicate with each of the state’s 82 counties directly for the latest available information on vote counts.
The state will certify its results on Dec. 3.
On Monday, Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson said about 14,200 provisional ballots had been processed, of which about 80% were accepted, and about 2,700 mail-in absentee ballots had not yet been returned.
Mississippi does not have automatic recounts or permit candidates to request a recount. Recounts in the state are held only in the event of a court order. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is eligible for a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.
The vote count is ongoing in Alaska’s Senate race
Democrat Mary Peltola led Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan by about 2,500 votes in Alaska’s Senate race on Tuesday afternoon, with an estimated 76% of the vote counted. The results of some absentee ballots are expected to be released late Tuesday, though the final absentee ballots mailed back from outside the U.S. are accepted as late as Nov. 18, 15 days after Election Day.
Ranked choice voting could also affect the timeline. Peltola is just over 1 percentage point short of the majority needed to win outright. If neither candidate wins a majority, the race will proceed to ranked choice tabulation on Nov. 18. The state’s “target date” for certifying the election results is Nov. 25.
Recounts in Alaska are automatic only in the event of a tie vote. Candidates may also request a recount within five days of the state’s certification.
More than a dozen House races are still up in the air
In most of the House races that have not been called, the margin between the leading candidates was less than 1 percentage point among votes counted as of late Tuesday afternoon.
In North Carolina, four races remain undecided, the most of any state, and Republican incumbents were being challenged in all. There are no automatic recounts in North Carolina, but candidates may request a recount if the margin between candidates is 1% or less of the total votes. The state must receive the recount request by noon Eastern time Nov. 17, two business days after the county canvass in the state. The state is scheduled to certify its results Nov. 24.
In California, only one of the remaining House races, in the 23rd District, will affect the chamber’s balance of power. The other uncalled race is between two Democrats. Mail ballots must be received by Tuesday and counties must certify their results Dec. 3. The state will certify its results Dec. 11.
In South Carolina’s 2nd District, a recount is ongoing in the race between Republican incumbent Joe Wilson and Democrat Zyon Khalia. Wilson led Khalia by only about 3,000 votes in the original tally by late Tuesday afternoon, when 99% of the votes had been counted.
In Minnesota’s 1st District, the race was still undecided late in the afternoon Tuesday, with about 300 votes separating the top two candidates and an estimated 99% of votes counted. Recounts are not automatic in Minnesota, but a candidate can request a publicly-funded recount if the margin between the winning and losing candidates is less than 0.25% of the vote.
In Tennessee’s 4th District, about 300 votes lay between Democrat Victoria Broderick and Republican incumbent Scott DesJarlais as of late afternoon Tuesday. In that state, recounts are held only as part of a legal challenge in the courts. There are no automatic recounts, and losing candidates may not request recounts.
Two governorships remain undecided
Democratic state Sen. Cindy Holscher led state Republican Senate President Ty Masterson in the race for governor of Kansas by less than 1 percentage point late Tuesday afternoon. On Nov. 4, the state announced that a close-race audit of election results requiring a hand count of selected ballots had been triggered in six close Kansas races, including the gubernatorial race. The audit must be completed before Nov. 16, the day by which counties must certify their results.
In the race for governor of Alaska, only about 76% of votes were estimated to had been counted late Tuesday afternoon, and the Democratic candidate, Jonathan S. Kreiss‑Tomkins, was leading Bernadette M. Wilson by about 45,000 votes, 49.6% to 28.9%. The race will advance to ranked choice tabulation if no candidate receives more than 50% of votes.