As midterm election results slowly roll in two weeks after Election Day, four crucial House races in California, Colorado, and Alaska still need to be called.
Alaska
The At-Large Congressional District in Alaska remains uncalled, delayed by the state’s newly-implemented ranked-choice voting system. The seat has been labeled by Fox News’ Power Rankings as “lean Democratic” due to the new system that gives incumbent Democrat Representative Mary Peltola an advantage over her Republican opponents, Nick Begich and former Governor Sarah Palin.
Rep. Peltola led in the first round of votes, with former Gov. Palin in second and Begich in third. However, Peltola failed to secure 50%. That means those who voted for the candidate with the fewest votes will have their second choice vote reallocated to other candidates until one candidate reaches the 50% threshold.
Election officials recommenced the counting Wednesday of the second-and third-place votes meaning that Alaskan voters may soon know the outcome of the House race.
California
California has two of the four races that haven’t been called. The state is predominantly vote-by-mail, where every voter registered is automatically mailed a ballot 29 days before Election Day. Twenty-two million voters and lengthy processing times mean race calls move very slowly in the state.
According to California Secretary of State estimates, California still has 593,925 ballots remaining to be counted. Of the remaining unprocessed ballots, around 500,000 were mailed. California allows election authorities a month to finish tallying, which would stretch as late as December 8.
In the 3rd Congressional District, Republican Kevin Kiley has a commanding lead over Democrat Kermit Jones. However, only half of the ballots have been counted in the “likely Republican” race. The state accepts mail-in votes for a week after Election Day, but ballots must be postmarked by November 8. Ballots must go through a process of signature verification before being counted.
Another uncalled race lies in California’s 13th Congressional District. The race is a toss-up and is among the closest remaining, with Democrat Adam Gray behind Republican John Duarte by fewer than 800 votes.
Colorado
The majority of voters in Colorado vote by mail. However, processing them is much quicker than in California. During the 2020 election, 90% of the vote was counted by the day after Election Day, according to the AP. Mail-in ballots from overseas military service members and other out-of-state voters can arrive as late as the 23rd as long as they were postmarked by Election Day. Despite quicker processing times, the 3rd House District in Colorado remains too close to call.
Incumbent Republican Representative Lauren Boebert wasn’t expected to have a close race with Adam Frisch, her Democratic opponent, in a seat classified as “likely Republican.” According to the Associated Press, the one-term congresswoman is leading the vote count narrowly by slightly more than 500 votes.
Although the race is close enough to qualify for a recount under the state law of Colorado, Frisch conceded the race to Boebert. However, as of Tuesday, the Associated Press has not called the race.
