The U.S. Senate contests in the western states of Arizona and Nevada are still up for grabs three days after Election Day on November 5.
In both contests, Democratic candidates have held onto a slim edge, giving Democratic leader Chuck Schumer hope that his impending minority won’t continue to decline. Republicans are expected to take control of the Senate next year after flipping four seats so far.
Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., the incumbent, is ahead of her Republican opponent, Ret. Army Capt. Sam Brown, by over 17,500 votes, or 1.2 percentage points, as of Friday morning.
In Nevada, mail-in ballots must arrive by Saturday in order to be counted. The race is still too close to call, according to The Associated Press on Thursday, with tens of thousands of ballots possibly still pending.
Rosen has received 665,840 votes, or 47.76%, thus far. Brown has received 46.50% of the vote, or 648,292 votes. Almost all Nevada precincts have released their findings.
“There are still tens of thousands of uncounted ballots in the race for U.S. Senate, and the candidates are separated by less than one percent,” the Brown campaign stated. “There are also thousands of ballots which need to be cured. Sam Brown is committed to ensuring every legally cast, valid vote is counted.”
On Wednesday, Rosen stated, “We feel good about the results we’re seeing, but there are still thousands of votes to be counted. Our democracy takes time, and I’m confident that we will win as more votes come in.”
Just 76.05% of precincts in nearby Arizona are filing reports. Republican Kari Lake, a former TV news anchor, is now trailing Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, a Marine, by almost 43,000 votes.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an independent and former Democrat, will be succeeded by the victor of this race. After arguing with the party’s far-left faction, she quit, and when it became apparent that she had little chance of winning reelection as an independent, she chose not to run.
Due in large part to the intricacy of this year’s ballot and the way the state counts ballots, the Arizona results are coming in slowly. Maricopa County, the largest county in the state, was predicted to experience the most significant delays.
Delays could also result from a state statute supported by the GOP that requires additional processes to validate votes, officials said.
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Poll workers are required by law to hold off on counting until the polls have closed. Before being brought to the elections center, where the signatures are checked and the votes are tallied, all dropped-off green envelope ballots must first be manually counted.
Voters have five days to correct their ballots if the election office discovers an inaccuracy. The process of curing and counting each ballot might take up to two weeks, according to election workers.
Before being counted, mail ballots must also be scanned, sorted, and have their signatures validated. Additionally, voters have until the polls close on election day to return mail votes.
