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Why hasn’t balance of power in the US House been declared?

Almost a week from Election Day, 17 seats in the House are still too close to call.

CONNECTICUT, USA — It’s been nearly a week since the election and the balance of power in the U.S. House is still undecided.

A win by the GOP would give President-elect Donald Trump a trifecta, with Republicans in power in the White House and both chambers of Congress.

As of Monday afternoon, 18 districts were still undecided.

So why is the vote count taking so long? Every state has its own election laws.

Each state’s rules and procedures for how to count the vote are different — some states, like Connecticut, don’t allow election workers to begin processing early and absentee ballots until Election Day, which can slow things down.

Each absentee ballot must be sorted, scanned and undergo signature verification to confirm the voter’s identity.

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If there’s an issue with the signature, workers have a certain number of days to contact the voter and have them confirm their information, then correct the ballot. That’s another processing delay, known as ballot “curing.”

In states like Nevada and California, mail-in ballots must be counted even if they are received a few days after the election, as long as they are postmarked by Election Day.

That means most states have finished counting before California — also the most populous state — has even received all of its ballots.

Election workers are counting all the races on one ballot when they process it. Every voter in the state gets to decide on the president, but not all races are statewide, like House representatives.

Organizations like the Associated Press have enough data to call states for president, while smaller, local races remain too close.

Election results that take a long time do not mean voter fraud. It’s very normal for this process to take a while, especially as voting access has expanded across the country.

Emma Wulfhorst is a political reporter for FOX61 News. She can be reached at ewulfhorst@fox61.com. Follow her on FacebookX and Instagram.

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