While Democrats secured significant victories in the House and Senate on election night, several key races remained unresolved as of Wednesday morning. Senate contests in Alaska and Mississippi were still pending, with experts noting that close margins and specific state voting procedures, rather than irregularities, are driving the delays.
Alaska's use of ranked-choice voting is expected to extend the timeline for calling its Senate race by several weeks. In other states, legal restrictions on when mail-in ballots can be processed, such as in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, contribute to slower reporting. Election officials and analysts emphasize that these timelines are consistent with historical norms for close elections.
What the Right Is Saying
President Donald Trump has previously characterized mail-in voting as "mail-in cheating" and linked it to fraud, a stance he maintained during the 2020 election. When asked last week if he would accept the 2026 midterm results, Trump responded, "I will if they're honest elections," signaling a conditional acceptance that aligns with his past rhetoric on election integrity.
Becker noted that Trump's expectation of spreading disinformation on election night stems from his behavior in 2020. "It's almost certain that the candidates who think they're doing poorly are going to be spreading lies and disinformation about it," Becker said, adding that he believes the president "will probably spread lies and disinformation about the election on election night because he did it in 2020."
Critics of mail-in voting often point to the "red mirage" phenomenon, where early in-person counts favor Republicans, followed by a shift as mail ballots are counted. While Becker noted this effect has moderated since 2020, conservative commentators continue to view the delayed reporting of mail ballots as a potential vulnerability in the election process, arguing for faster processing to ensure immediate transparency.
What the Left Is Saying
Progressive election experts and analysts argue that delays in calling races are a standard feature of modern elections, particularly when margins are tight. David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, stated that election officials have never completed counting on election night due to the complexity of ballots. "It can't be done," Becker said, noting that every state takes weeks to certify the election.
Lawrence Norden, vice president of the Elections and Government Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, cautioned against interpreting slow counts as evidence of fraud. He explained that the perception of counting speed is disconnected from the actual speed of the process. "The votes are already in," Norden said. "They just all aren't counted at the same time." He used the analogy of watching a recorded basketball game to illustrate that results appearing later do not mean points were added after the game ended.
Becker also addressed the political dynamics of delayed results, suggesting that candidates who believe they are losing are likely to challenge the integrity of the process. "If you hear candidates complaining about the process, I don't know whether they won or lost, but I can tell you that they think they lost, because the winners do not complain about the process," Becker said.
What the Numbers Show
As of Wednesday morning, Senate races in Alaska and Mississippi remained uncalled. The Alaska race is expected to take weeks to resolve due to its ranked-choice voting system. In California, while some races were called quickly, high-profile contests such as the mayoral race in Los Angeles and the gubernatorial primary took several days to finalize.
Nine jurisdictions—California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia—automatically send mail ballots to all active registered voters. In Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, state law prohibits election officials from processing mail ballots until the morning of Election Day, which slows the initial reporting of results.
In 2020, CBS News and other networks did not project Arizona for President Biden until Nov. 12, nine days after election night, despite Fox News calling it earlier. William Gates, executive director of the Arizona State University's Mechanics of Democracy Laboratory, stated that Arizona does not take longer to count votes than other states, but close margins attract intense scrutiny.
The Bottom Line
The delay in calling key Senate races highlights the tension between the public's expectation of immediate results and the logistical realities of modern election administration. Experts advise voters to rely on official data rather than political commentary during the counting period. With certification processes taking weeks in many states, the final composition of the Senate may not be fully confirmed until late November or early December.
Voters should watch for official statements from state election boards rather than premature concessions or victories declared by candidates. The Brennan Center and the Center for Election Innovation & Research recommend that the public disregard claims of fraud unless specific, evidence-based allegations are presented by election officials.