IVN Author Wes Messamore and I delve into some of the biggest races that haven't been decided in the 2018 midterms, and the controversies arising that could drag these races out longer, President Donald Trump and members of the Republican Party are calling "FRAUD" in states like Arizona and Florida, where the Senate races are still too close to call:
- In Florida, a manual recount is expected, along with the possibility of a lawsuit from Gov. Rick Scott and the National Republican Senate Committee against the election officials in Broward County. Some GOP officials are claiming that new ballots coming from the county are a clear indication of fraud.
- What you need to know about Broward County is that it does have a history of shady election practices -- even illegal. A circuit court judge found that the supervisor of elections illegally discarded ballots in the 2016 Democratic congressional primary for US Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz's district. However, with no clear evidence to point to yet, it is unclear whether fraud actually occurred or if the Republicans are just calling foul because the gap between Scott and Democratic nominee Bill Nelson has narrowed.
- Arizona's Senate race is also too close to call, with Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema holding on to a lead of about one percentage point over Republican Rep. Martha McSally. Again, President Trump is calling foul, tweeting about ballot signatures: "Just out — in Arizona, SIGNATURES DON’T MATCH. Electoral corruption - Call for a new Election? We must protect our Democracy!" Meanwhile, the Green Party candidate is being accused of potentially "spoiling" the race.
But the race that we, at IVN, are paying particularly close attention to is in Maine's 2nd Congressional District, which will be the first in US history to be decided by ranked choice voting. It's a deadlock between Republican US Rep. Bruce Poliquin and Democrat Jared Golden, with Poliquin leading Golden by less than a percentage point going into the second round of ranked choice tabulation. An exit survey indicates that Golden could overtake the incumbent's 0.7 point lead and get the majority vote.
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