Eleven days after Election Day, the last two Senate questions of the midterms are being settled by paperwork rather than projections. In Mississippi, Secretary of State Michael Watson announced Friday that official results from all 82 counties are in, WLBT reported. The tally shows Senator-elect Scott Colom, a Democrat, with 479,404 votes (49.3%) to 471,817 (48.6%) for Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, a margin of 7,587. Independent Ty Pinkins drew 20,439 votes, or 2.1%.

That margin is notably wider than the roughly 4,600-vote gap Slate reported after the Associated Press called the race earlier in the week, and the county canvass explains much of the movement. Watson said 21,344 affidavit ballots were processed and about 73% were accepted. Affidavit ballots are cast when a voter’s eligibility has to be checked after Election Day, so in a race this close, how counties handle them can move the final number by thousands. Mississippi is the only state without a set procedure to trigger a recount, the BBC noted, though a ballot-box examination remains an available avenue for a campaign that wants to contest the result.

Alaska is moving more slowly by design. Former Rep. Mary Peltola, a Democrat, widened her lead over Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan in Friday’s update but remains below 50% of first-choice votes, Alaska Public Media reported. The update added about 22,500 ballots, and the AP estimates 96% of ballots are counted, but it has not called what is now the only unresolved Senate contest. Without a majority, the Division of Elections will run ranked-choice tabulation on Nov. 18, after the deadline for overseas mailed ballots, eliminating last-place finishers and shifting those ballots to voters’ next choices. State certification is slated for Nov. 25.

Other Alaska results are firming up. The AP called the governor’s race Friday evening for Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, who holds 50.8%. In the U.S. House race, Rep. Nick Begich leads independent Bill Hill 47.8% to 41.7%, which also points to ranked-choice rounds. Voters rejected Ballot Measure 2, leaving the state’s election system unchanged for now, according to an AP call cited by Alaska Public Media.

Legal noise has not stopped the clock. Alaska Public Media reported that state and federal investigations continue into the recruitment of a second candidate named Dan Sullivan, and that a Justice Department appeal over certification is not expected to be decided before the new Congress is sworn in. The outlet said no apparent legal obstacle stands in the way of certification.

Why it matters

Both states show how late-counted ballots, from Mississippi’s affidavit review to Alaska’s overseas mail and ranked-choice rounds, can reshape margins well after election night. For field and compliance teams, the dates to watch are Alaska’s Nov. 18 tabulation and Nov. 25 certification, and whether any campaign seeks a ballot-box examination of Mississippi’s official count.

Sources

• WLBT: MS Secretary of State releases final election numbers
• Alaska Public Media: Peltola leads in U.S. Senate race, nearing 50% mark with almost all ballots counted
• BBC: What are the recount rules in tight Mississippi Senate race?
• Slate: Mississippi Senate result
• Mississippi Public Broadcasting: National attention turns to Mississippi’s ballot-counting process

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