Not so fast-votes still being counted in 2 key elections

Over the weekend, U.S. House candidate Nick Begich declared victory over incumbent Representative Mary Peltola. This comes as almost 4,000 absentee ballots were processed Monday.

“The race for Alaska’s sole seat in the U.S. House of Representatives has now been called - Alaskans have spoken. It will be the honor of a lifetime to have the opportunity to serve as your voice in Congress,” Begich wrote on X.

However, while Begich maintains a slim lead over Representative Peltola, the race has not been certified and ballots are still being counted.

With Alaska’s rank-choice voting process, a candidate must secure a 50% plus 1 vote lead to determine a winner by November 20. If no candidate has secured more than 50% of the first-place votes, all valid ballots will be counted and the state’s ranked-choice tabulation will determine the winner.

In round two, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and the candidate’s votes go to the voter’s next preferred choice if they selected one. The cycle will continue in ensuing rounds until a candidate reaches a majority.

As of November 18, Begich leads the race 48.5% to 46.3% over Representative Peltola.

In another close race, Ballot Measure 2, which seeks to repeal Alaska’s Rank Choice vote was failing by the slimmest of margins as of Monday evening, with just under 200 votes.

In the weeks following the November 5 election, the ballot measure was passing, but as with the tabulations for the U.S. Representative, rural and absentee ballots have not all been counted

While cities and towns in the lower 48 use the rank choice, Alaska is currently the only state to use the Rank Choice Vote and was instrumental in Representative Peltola gaining the seat against opponent Begich back in 2022.