Trump Has Declared a Winner, but Alaska Has Not.
Donald Trump has announced that Republican Senator Dan Sullivan won Alaska’s Senate race by a huge margin. There is one problem: the election has not been decided. As of November 7, Democrat Mary Peltola was ahead by 637 votes, with thousands of ballots still outstanding. Yet Trump has already described the contest as over, arguing that votes for other candidates should effectively count toward Sullivan.
Alaska's ranked-choice voting system does not allow votes to be reassigned according to a president's interpretation. Voters' actual rankings determine where those ballots go. With the final tabulation still pending, Trump's declaration is premature, not an official election result.
