Lauren Boebert – live: Colorado election results may be called today as Adam Frisch trails by tiny margin

The unexpectedly tight race between Lauren Boebert and Adam Frisch for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District could be called as soon as today.

The deadline for voters to fix ballot discrepancies and for county clerks to receive military and overseas votes passed on Wednesday, with all ballots required to be counted by Friday.

At present, there are believed to be a few thousand votes outstanding as Ms Boebert continues to hold a 0.4 per cent lead over Mr Frisch, according to the Colorado secretary of state’s office.

The race could head to an automatic recount if neither candidate fails to win by a margin of more than 0.5 per cent.

As the race comes down to the wire, Mr Frisch has urged voters to take “deep breaths” while Ms Boebert continues to share confidence that she’ll win.

While the race is among only a handful not yet decided, Republicans have won a slim majority in the US House of Representatives with 218 seats, giving the GOP control of the lower chamber of Congress.

Boebert v Frisch

• Lauren Boebert calls for Pelosi’s firing as GOP looks set to take House

• Boebert confident she will win: ‘Of course’

• All eyes on Colorado as GOP primed for control of the House

• Boebert’s hometown reacts to her expected landslide win slipping away

• How the tight race has caught everyone off guard

Colorado Democrats expand majorities in state legislature

15:30 , Alex Woodward

After bracing for losing seats amid a projected “red wave” in midterm elections, Democrats in Colorado’s House and Senate instead expanded their majorities.

Democrats flipped five GOP-held seats in the House, where Democrats will expand to a 46-19 supermajority – enough to override vetoes without Republican support.

Democrats also flipped three Senate districts, resulting in a 23-12 majority – just one short of a supermajority.

Colorado is represented by a Democratic governor, with two Democratic senators and eight House members – five of whom are Democrats.

If Adam Frisch defeats Lauren Boebert, that figure will tick up to six, which would be a surprising but not altogether unexpected flip in a state with trending Democratic leadership.

What’s next for Colorado ballots and the race for the 3rd congressional district

14:30 , Alex Woodward

Good morning.

Final votes are being tallied to determine who represents a massive 27-county congressional district represented by Lauren Boebrt.

The outcome could hinge on remaining ballots that are being processed and tallied.

Ballot processing resumed after the weekend and after a Veterans Day holiday on Friday.

Voters had until Wednesday night to “cure” ballots that were initially rejected due to missing signatures or other issues.

Clerks also were waiting for military ballots and ballots from voters overseas, as long as those ballots were postmarked by 7pm on Election Day.

Those ballots were batched with a smaller number of ballots that were set aside to be counted with the batches of “cured” ballots and overseas and miitary ballots, an effort to randomise the ballots and preserve voter anonymity, particularly in smaller counties, because the list of military and overseas voters and curable ballots are public records.

A projection in the race could come at some point afterward, but the Secretary of State will certify the results 5 December.

She also can order recounts. An automatic recount will take place if the votes between the top two candidates equals less than 0.5 percent of the votes cast for the leading candidate.

How Republicans won control of the House

14:00 , Megan Sheets

Republicans have won a slim majority of seats in the House of Representatives, giving the GOP control of the lower chamber of Congress.

Republicans gained numerous seats in places where a majority of voters elected Joe Biden just two years ago, with races in Democratic strongholds such as New York falling into the GOP column for the first time in many years after courts rejected a congressional map that would have favoured the Democratic Party by a large margin.

Still, it was far from the “red wave” anticipated by Republicans, with embattled Democrats in critical races managing to protect their seats as voters – particularly young people and women – rejected far-right campaigns on abortion rights, Mr Trump’s looming precense and the GOP’s worryingly antidemocratic agenda.

Democratic candidates also maintained control of the US Senate by flipping a Pennsylvania seat and scoring victories in critical battleground states, with a runoff election in Georgia between incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker set for 6 December.

GOP wins House majority on gerrymandered districts and rebuke to Biden

Boebert v Frisch race could be called as soon as today

12:39 , Megan Sheets

The results in Lauren Boebert’s race against Adam Frisch for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District could be called as soon as today, experts say.

The deadline for voters to fix ballot discrepancies and for county clerks to receive military and overseas votes passed on Wednesday.

Now, there are believed to be a few thousand votes outstanding as Ms Boebert continues to hold a 0.4 per cent lead over Mr Frisch, according to the Associated Press.

All ballots must be counted by Friday.

Should the race stay within a margin of 0.5 per cent, a recount will be called automatically.

Both candidates have already begun preparing for that possibility.

GOP megadonor splits with Trump: Time for ‘new generation of leaders’

12:00 , Alex Woodward

An influential conservative donor announced on Tuesday that he was not supporting Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, reflecting the growing fractures in the GOP after midterm elections.

“America does better when its leaders are rooted in today and tomorrow, not today and yesterday,” Blackston CEO Stephen Schwarzman told Axios.

GOP megadonor splits with Trump: Time for ‘new generation of leaders’

Kevin McCarthy faces ‘an almost impossible task’ if Republicans win the House

11:00 , Alex Woodward

As the Democrats’ chances to hold the House majority narrow, the floodgates for Kevin McCarthy’s own personal hell are about to open. A thin majority will mean Mr McCarthy is more of a prisoner to far-right members like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert, writes The Independent’s Eric Garcia.

To get a better idea of what’s going to happen for House Republicans, he spoke with Brendan Buck, who worked for former GOP House Speakers John Boehner and Paul Ryan.

Mr Buck quickly diagnosed the disease that caused Republicans to have a less-than-stellar midterm performance:

What awaits Kevin McCarthy if Republicans win: ‘This is an almost impossible task

ICYMI: Here’s how Lauren Boebert’s hometown felt about her expected landslide win slipping away

10:00 , Alex Woodward

An unexpectedly tight race between Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert and Democratic candidate Adam Frisch stunned even his supporters.

The race is still too close to call. Here’s what The Independent’s Sheila Flynn heard from voters in Rifle, Colorado after Election Day:

Here’s how Boebert’s hometown feels about her expected landslide win slipping away

The husband and wife duo who nearly caused the midterms’ biggest upset

09:00 , Alex Woodward

The Independent’s Eric Garcia spoke with the husband and wife political duo who joined a coalition of Democratic leaders and activists boosting Lauren Boebert’s Democratic challenger Adam Frisch, who shocked analysts by getting within a razor’s edge of the Republican incumbent, who was expected to cruise to re-election..

The secret behind the biggest upset of the midterms. No Biden, no Pelosi, no Schumer

‘People want the circus to stop’

08:00 , Alex Woodward

Before Election Day, The Independent’s Sheila Flynn talked with Adam Frisch about why he decided to run against Lauren Boebert, whose brand of “angertainment” motivated him to run against her.

‘People want the circus to stop’: Could Lauren Boebert be in trouble?

Who is Lauren Boebert?

07:00 , Alex Woodward

Before her election to Congress in 2020, Lauren Boebert first made headlines not as a politician but as a restauranteur. Her establishment, called Shooters, grabbed the public’s attention thanks to its wait staff openly carrying firearms during their shifts. She also refused to stop offering in-door dining during the Covid-19 pandemic.

During her campaign and congressional tenure, Ms Boebert has been criticised for saying she “hopes [QAnon] is true,” closeness with the Proud Boys right-wing gang, and claiming she is “with the militias.” She faced further scrutiny after aligning herself with the Capitol rioters on January 6 and tweeting “today is 1776” while Trump loyalists attacked the building and Capitol police.

Graig Graziosi writes:

Everything to know about Lauren Boebert

What’s next for counting Colorado ballots

04:00 , Alex Woodward

A massive 27-county congressional district hinges on remaining ballots that are being processed and tallied.

Ballot processing resumed after the weekend after a Veterans Holiday on Friday.

Voters had until Wednesday night to “cure” ballots that were initially rejected due to missing signatures or other issues.

Clerks also were waiting for military ballots and ballots from voters overseas, as long as those ballots were postmarked by 7pm on Election Day.

Those ballots were batched with a smaller number of ballots that were set aside to be counted with the batches of “cured” ballots and overseas and miitary ballots, an effort to randomise the ballots and preserve voter anonymity, particularly in smaller counties, because the list of military and overseas voters and curable ballots are public records.

Adam Frisch: The wait for Colorado results is ‘nothing nefarious, it’s just part of democracy’

03:00 , Alex Woodward

Adam Frisch rebuked “scaremonger” efforts from Republicans in the wake of Election Day who have falsely claimed that delays in vote counts are evidence of malfeasance.

“The easier it is to vote, I think the longer it takes to actually count,” he told Colorado Public Radio.

“And for Colorado and California and some other states that bend over backward to make sure every vote counts and everyone should vote, it sometimes takes longer than we’d all like to see happen,” he said.

County clerks and staff from both parties are working to “cure” or fix any oustanding ballots with signature issues or other problems to ensure those votes count ahead of a critical midnight deadline. The race between Mr Frisch and Lauren Boebert could hinge on batches of such ballots.

“It’s almost like a ‘Get out the vote’ operation again,” he said. “And as some of that can be done on the phone, a lot of that is boots on the ground. And the vast majority of people voted, they certainly want their vote to count. So the vast majority of the people are happy to actually hear back from them that something on a technical basis might stop their vote from being counted again. It’s nothing nefarious, it’s just part of democracy.”

Deadline approaches for voters to correct their ballots

02:00 , Alex Woodward

Colorado voters with errors on their ballots have until the end of Wednesday to correct them, and candidates and political parties have fanned out across Colorado’s massive 3rd congressional district for several days to help voters fix any ballot issues.

A race between Lauren Boebert and her Democratic challenger Adam Frisch could hinge on some of those ballots.

Joe Biden issues statement as Republicans win House majority

00:13 , Alex Woodward

President Joe Biden congratulated Kevin McCarthy and House Republicans after the GOP won 218 seats in the House of Representatives.

“Last week’s elections demonstrated the strength and resilience of American democracy,” he said in a statement. “There was a strong rejection of election deniers, political violence, and intimidation. There was an emphatic statement that, in America, the will of the people prevails.”

The president is “ready to work with House Republicans to deliver results for working families.”

“In this election, voters spoke clearly about their concerns: the need to lower costs, protect the right to choose, and preserve our democracy,” he added. “As I said last week, the future is too promising to be trapped in political warfare. The American people want us to get things done for them. They want us to focus on the issues that matter to them and on making their lives better. And I will work with anyone - Republican or Democrat - willing to work with me to deliver results for them.”

Breaking news: Republicans win House majority on strength of gerrymandered districts and rebuke to Biden

Wednesday 16 November 2022 23:52 , Alex Woodward

When the 118th Congress convenes on 3 January, Republicans will control the House of Representatives for the first time in four years after meeting the required 218 seats necessary to form a majority in last week’s midterm elections.

GOP wins House majority on gerrymandered districts and rebuke to Biden

Republicans security slim majority in the House with 218 seats

Wednesday 16 November 2022 23:45 , Alex Woodward

Republicans have captured 218 seats in the House in midterm elections, a net gain of eight seats thus far, giving the GOP a slim majority to control the lower chamber of Congress.

Democratic candidates have won 210 seats.

Seven seats are still to be determined. Results continue to be processed and major news networks will make their projections based on vote counts and outstanding ballots.

Voters complain of harassment from national campaigns to fix ballot errors as Boebert leads on razor’s edge

Wednesday 16 November 2022 22:30 , Alex Woodward

Pueblo County’s clerk and recorder offices are receiving complaints that national groups are harassing them to fix issues with their mail-in ballots so they can be counted in an exceptionally tight race between incumbent Lauren Boebert and Adam Frisch.

“They are in a frenzy that is created by this close vote,” Pueblo County Clerk Gilbert “Bo” Ortiz told NBC affiliate 9News in Colorado.

“My concern is are they turning voters off from voting in future elections by being rude,” he added.

He told Colorado Public Radio that voters are getting multiple phone calls and text messages and “people showed up at their house.”

It remains unclear how many outstanding ballots need to be “cured” before they can be counted in the close contest. The Republican congresswoman is leading by roughly 1,100 votes as of Wednesday morning.

They have until midnight on Wednesday to fix those issues, prompting a race across the large congressional district’s 27 counties by staff and volunteers from both parties to make sure those ballots are counted.

Here’s how a recount process would work in Colorado

Wednesday 16 November 2022 21:15 , Alex Woodward

The race for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District is still too close to call, but it could be headed to an automatic recount if either candidate fails to win by a margin of more than 0.5 per cent.

Colorado voters have until 11.59pm MT to “cure” or fix errors on their ballots that could lead to them being rejected. The deadline also applies to overseas voters and military service members returning their ballots.

Following that deadline, Colorado’s secretary of state’s office selects at least one statewide contest and at least one contest in each county to audit, based on staff recommendations and analysis from Democratic and Republican election officials, according to a spokesperson for the secretary of state speaking to The New York Times.

A randomised audit then must be completed by 29 November, and bipartisan canvass boards also will perform a canvass that compares ballots cast to the number of people who voted.

If the candidates are still separated by less than one half of one percentage point, the secretary of state could order a mandatory recount, which must be completed by 13 December.

Political parties also can request a recount (which they must pay for), which must be completed by 15 December.

Colorado Republican political analyst: State’s GOP ‘let anger eat its soul’

Wednesday 16 November 2022 19:48 , Alex Woodward

After the state’s GOP faced an “extinction-level event” with sweeping election failures last week, including Lauren Boebert’s too close to call race that analysts thought would be an easy win, Republican political analyst Kelly Maher with 9News said “somewhere along the line, we confused contrasting our ideas on how to govern with yelling at and about people.”

“We thought the cruelest amongst us were the most principled and fighting the hardest. We let our anger eat at our souls,” she writes.

ICYMI: Colorado voters elect state’s first Latina member of Congress

Wednesday 16 November 2022 19:00 , Alex Woodward

Democrats picked up an unexpected House seat in Colorado in a tight race that’s not the Boebert v Frisch contest.

Democratic candidate Yadira Caraveo won the race for Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, a newly drawn district after the 2020 Census and redistricting process.

She will be the state’s first-ever Latina member of Congress. Her opponent Barbara Kirkmeyer conceded the race last week.

Adam Frisch is already in Washington for new member orientation. He says he has support from some Republicans

Wednesday 16 November 2022 18:30 , Alex Woodward

Adam Frisch is in Washington DC with a handful of other candidates who have not won their undecided races but are locked in too-close-to-call contests.

Mr Frisch is challenging Coloroado’s Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert

“There’s a handful of us, five or six from either party, that are going through training and going through the motions and getting pictures taken. I try to sit on the very edge just in case they have to cut me out at the end. And we’re learning,” he told Colorado Public Radio.

He said that members of Congress “are very supportive of me on the Democratic side and Republican side.”

“I’ve been talking to Democrats and Republicans, new members of Congress,” he said. “Yes, there’s definitely some Republicans that are cheering for me. But everyone understands in a bipartisan manner that every year, every cycle, there’s a handful of people that are in this position where they’re too close to call. So they can’t define it legally, but it’s so close that it’s important for them to come and go through the process.”

Adam Frisch stressed that the wait for Colorado results is ‘nothing nefarious, it’s just part of democracy'

Wednesday 16 November 2022 17:30 , Alex Woodward

Adam Frisch rebuked “scaremonger” efforts from Republicans in the wake of Election Day who have falsely claimed that delays in vote counts are evidence of malfeasance.

“The easier it is to vote, I think the longer it takes to actually count,” he told Colorado Public Radio.

“And for Colorado and California and some other states that bend over backward to make sure every vote counts and everyone should vote, it sometimes takes longer than we’d all like to see happen,” he said.

County clerks and staff from both parties are working to “cure” or fix any oustanding ballots with signature issues or other problems to ensure those votes count ahead of a critical midnight deadline. The race between Mr Frisch and Lauren Boebert could hinge on batches of such ballots.

“It’s almost like a ‘Get out the vote’ operation again,” he said. “And as some of that can be done on the phone, a lot of that is boots on the ground. And the vast majority of people voted, they certainly want their vote to count. So the vast majority of the people are happy to actually hear back from them that something on a technical basis might stop their vote from being counted again. It’s nothing nefarious, it’s just part of democracy.”

Colorado GOP facing ‘extinction-level event’ with midterm losses: ‘This was the asteroid that ended the reign of the dinosaur’

Wednesday 16 November 2022 17:00 , Alex Woodward

Colorado is represented by a Democratic governor, with two Democratic senators and seven House members – four of whom are Democrats.

An eighth representative – Yadira Caraveo – was elected in a newly created district, ticking up the state’s Democratic House representation to five.

If Adam Frisch defeats Lauren Boebert, that figure will tick up to six, which would be a surprising but not altogether unexpected flip in a state with trending Democratic leadership.

Last week, Republicans lost seven seats in Colorado’s state legislature, while another Republican state senator changed his party affiliation to Democratic before midterm elections.

That leaves the GOP with less than one third of the seats in both chambers, “the deepest Republican minority in state history,” according to Colorado Public Radio.

“Honestly I think Colorado Republicans need to take this and learn the lesson that the party is dead. This was an extinction-level event,” Republican state Rep Colin Larson told the outlet. “This was the asteroid that ended the reign of the dinosaur, and in this case, the dinosaur was the Republican party.”

Voters complain of harassment from national campaigns to fix ballot errors as Boebert leads on razor’s edge

Wednesday 16 November 2022 16:15 , Alex Woodward

Pueblo County’s clerk and recorder offices are receiving complaints that national groups are harassing them to fix issues with their mail-in ballots so they can be counted in an exceptionally tight race between incumbent Lauren Boebert and Adam Frisch.

“They are in a frenzy that is created by this close vote,” Pueblo County Clerk Gilbert “Bo” Ortiz told NBC affiliate 9News in Colorado.

“My concern is are they turning voters off from voting in future elections by being rude,” he added.

He told Colorado Public Radio that voters are getting multiple phone calls and text messages and “people showed up at their house.”

It remains unclear how many outstanding ballots need to be “cured” before they can be counted in the close contest. The Republican congresswoman is leading by roughly 1,100 votes as of Wednesday morning.

They have until midnight on Wednesday to fix those issues, prompting a race across the large congressional district’s 27 counties by staff and volunteers from both parties to make sure those ballots are counted.

Status update: Republicans are one win away from control of the House

Wednesday 16 November 2022 15:30 , Alex Woodward

Republicans have captured at least 217 seats in the House in midterm elections, a net gain of eight seats, putting them on track to the 2018 seats needed for majority control of the lower chamber of Congress.

Democratic candidates have won 209 seats, losing eight.

Nine seats are still to be determined. Results continue to be processed and major news networks will make their projections based on vote counts and outstanding ballots.

Boebert demands ‘NEW leadership’ in the House as GOP poised for control

Wednesday 16 November 2022 15:00 , Alex Woodward

With Republicans set to capture 218 seats in the House of Representatives to eke out a majorirt in the lower chamber of Congress, Colorado congresswoman Lauren Boebert prematurely celebrated on Wednesday, as her race for re-election hinges on several hundreds votes.

“Republicans have taken back the House! With Nancy stripped of the gavel, now is time for NEW leadership.”

GOP minority leader Kevin McCarthy is likely to advance as House speaker after getting the necessary votes for the nomination from his party members on Tuesday.

Earlier this week, Ms Boebert wrote that “waiting this long for election results is going to make firing Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House that much sweeter.”

Election deniers overwhelmingly failed in 2022. The candidates who beat them warn the threat isn’t over

Wednesday 16 November 2022 14:20 , Alex Woodward

Republican candidates who rejected the outcome of the 2020 presidential election lost every battleground statewide race for offices that control how elections are run, a major blow to Donald Trump’s movement to install loyalists in critical state-level positions that could do in 2024 what he failed to do in 2020.

Voters overwhelmingly rejected candidates who amplified the former president’s bogus narrative that the election was stolen from him, or marred by Democratic fraud or malfeasance, and pledged antidemocratic agendas that would upend the electoral process to ensure GOP victories.

“Trying to delegitimise democracy is not a winning strategy,” said Michigan’s Democratic secretary of state Jocelyn Benson. “But we still have a presidential election [in 2024] in which we anticipate a lot of the same challenges.”

Election deniers overwhelmingly failed in 2022

How Lauren Boebert’s hometown feels about her expected landslide win slipping away

Wednesday 16 November 2022 14:00 , Oliver O'Connell

The tight battle between Rep Lauren Boebert and Democrat Adam Frisch stunned even his backers. As the race teeters on a razor’s edge still too close to call, Sheila Flynn speaks to voters in Boebert’s divided hometown of Rifle, Colorado.

Here’s how Boebert’s hometown feels about her expected landslide win slipping away

ICYMI: Boebert - who voted against bills supporting veterans - posts Veterans Day message

Wednesday 16 November 2022 13:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Lauren Boebert – who voted against several bills that would have supported US veterans – has posted a Veterans Day message telling US service members that they are “loved”, while she remains deadlocked in a race to hold onto her House seat.

Rachel Sharp reports.

Boebert - who voted against bills supporting veterans - posts Veterans Day message

McCarthy faces high-wire act as Republicans close in on House majority

Wednesday 16 November 2022 12:00 , Reuters

With Republicans closing in on a narrower-than-expected U.S. House of Representatives majority, their leader Kevin McCarthy took a step on Tuesday toward becoming speaker of the House, a job he has long coveted.

He may get another tough job as well - tightrope walker.

McCarthy, 57, is the presumptive favorite to replace fellow Californian Nancy Pelosi in January as House speaker - a job with a lot of clout and a lot of headaches. As speaker, McCarthy would be well placed to frustrate Democratic President Joe Biden’s legislative ambitions.

McCarthy overcame a challenge from hard-line conservative Representative Andy Biggs in Republican House leadership elections on Tuesday, winning a caucus vote by 188-31, according to a source familiar with the outcome.

McCarthy would only be elected formally as speaker when the new Congress takes office in January, presuming Republicans take the majority as expected.

Representative Steve Scalise, who was elected on Tuesday to serve as majority leader in a Republican-led House, shrugged off suggestions McCarthy could face hurdles when the House votes for speaker in January.

“The elections were intense. But we’re going to win the majority. And we talked a lot about what we’re going to do to get this country back on track. And that’s where our focus is,” Scalise told reporters.

But other Republicans said McCarthy could be in for a tumultuous journey to the speakership next year.

One of his most dedicated opponents, Representative Matt Gaetz, predicted as few as five Republicans would be able to block McCarthy’s candidacy in a narrowly divided chamber.

“It’s my expectation that we’ll find somebody in that room who doesn’t have five folks who want to vote against him. But it won’t be Kevin McCarthy,” Gaetz told reporters.

By David Morgan

Adam Frisch urges Colorado to take ‘deep breaths’ as counting continues

Wednesday 16 November 2022 11:40 , Rachel Sharp

Adam Frisch has urged Coloradans to take “deep breaths” as ballot counting continues in his race against Lauren Boebert.

“Just want to reiterate that no one needs to wear out their mouse clicking refresh on the results,” he tweeted.

“More curing and ballot counting will continue this week with additional vote counts dropping toward the end of the week. Deep breaths. :)”

The neck and neck race is expected to rumble on until the end of the week at least.

Adam Frisch ran against Boebert’s ‘angertainment’

Wednesday 16 November 2022 11:20 , Rachel Sharp

Prior to election day, Adam Frisch told The Independent that he decided to take on the MAGA Republican in the race for her US House seat in response to her “angertainment”.

He said that this phrase is what “Representative Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene and a lot of other people are - and there’s some on the left, as well - that use this kind of just ... yelling and screaming. I mean, a lot of time on Twitter, a lot of time on the cable news networks and not really focusing on the job at hand.”

Mr Frisch, a currency trader who served on the Aspen, Colorado city council for eight years, added that he found some of her bizarre comments “disgusting and anti-ethical to America”.

“I was thinking, you know, if a moderate, pragmatic, pro-business Democrat could get by the Democratic primary, which wouldn’t be easy – and it wasn’t – I thought I could build a coalition,” he said.

ICYMI: Lauren Boebert calls for Pelosi’s firing as GOP looks set to take House

Wednesday 16 November 2022 11:00 , Alex Woodward

Lauren Boebert has taken aim at Nancy Pelosi and called for the House Speaker’s ousting as the GOP is set to take control of the House after the results of midterm elections.

“Waiting this long for election results is going to make firing Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House that much sweeter,” Ms Boebert tweeted on Monday.

Ms Boebert’s race, however, is still too close to call and it is unlikely the outcome will be known until the end of the week – at the soonest.

On Tuesday, GOP Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy won nomination from his party to become the next Speaker of the House.

Is Colorado headed for a recount?

Wednesday 16 November 2022 10:35 , Rachel Sharp

In Colorado, an automatic recount is triggered if a candidate wins by a margin of 0.5 per cent or less of the leading candidate’s total votes.

This means that, to avoid a recount, either Lauren Boebert or Adam Frisch would need to lead by around 788 votes.

If a recount is triggered, it must be completed within 35 days of election day.

Voice: Kevin McCarthy faces ‘an almost impossible task’ if Republicans win the House

Wednesday 16 November 2022 10:00 , Alex Woodward

As the Democrats’ chances to hold the House majority narrow, the floodgates for Kevin McCarthy’s own personal hell are about to open. A thin majority will mean Mr McCarthy is more of a prisoner to archconservatives like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert (who looks increasingly more likely to win her race in Colorado’s 3rd district), writes The Independent’s Eric Garcia.

What awaits Kevin McCarthy if Republicans win: ‘This is an almost impossible task

Why there’s a ‘delay' in ballot counting in Colorado

Wednesday 16 November 2022 09:00 , Alex Woodward

It’s not really a delay at all. The process is working as it should. And there was a federal holiday in the middle of it.

Thousands of ballots remain to be counted across a massive 27-county congressional district.

Election activist was suspended on Friday for the Veterans Day holiday.

Ballot processing resumed after the weekend, though new totals aren’t likely to be reported until later this week.

That’s because voters have until Wednesday to “cure” ballots that were initially rejected due to missing signatures or other issues.

Clerks also are waiting for military ballots and ballots from voters overseas, as long as those ballots were postmarked by 7pm on Election Day.

Those clerks are also waiting to process a smaller number of ballots that were set aside to be counted with the batches of “cured” ballots and overseas and miitary ballots, an effort to randomise the ballots and preserve voter anonymity, particularly in smaller counties, because the list of military and overseas voters and curable ballots are public records.

Is Colorado headed to an automatic recount? Here’s how that would work

Wednesday 16 November 2022 08:00 , Alex Woodward

The race for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District is still too close to call, but it could be headed to an automatic recount if either candidate fails to win by a margin of more than 0.5 per cent.

Colorado voters have until 16 November to “cure” or fix errors on their ballots that could lead to them being rejected. The deadline also applies to overseas voters and military service members returning their ballots.

Following that deadline, Colorado’s secretary of state’s office selects at least one statewide contest and at least one contest in each county to audit, based on staff reccomendations and analysis from Democratic and Republican election officials, according to a spokesperson for the secretary of state speaking to The New York Times.

A randomised audit then must be completed by 29 November, and bipartisan canvass boards also will perform a canvass that compares ballots cast to the number of people who voted.

If the candidates are still separated by less than one half of one percentage point, the secretary of state has until D5 December to order a mandatory recount, which must be completed by 13 December.

Political parties also can request a recount (which they must pay for), which must be completed by 15 December.

Adam Frisch attends orientation for new members of Congress as Colorado results are pending

Wednesday 16 November 2022 06:00 , Alex Woodward

Behind by roughly 1,100 votes, Colorado congressional Democratic candidate Adam Frisch will attend new member orientation in Washington DC as voters await the outcome of his contest against GOP incumbent Lauren Boebert.

The campaigns are reaching out to voters to help “cure” or correct any issues with mail-in ballots, such as signiature issues, as a slim number of outstanding ballots could determine the outcome of the race.

Mr Frisch said in a statement to The Denver Post that he is joined at the Capitol with “a handful of other candidates across the country from both parties who are still in very close, undecided races.”

“This happens every cycle and the invite list and process is run by non-partisan House administration,” he added.

Ms Boebert also appears to be fundraising for a potential recount. Following an automatic recount, if either candidate fails to get within .05 per cent of a victory, campaigns can request a recount that they would have to pay for.

“I told you all year, the Left would do everything that they possibly could to get rid of me,” she said in a fundraising post on Twitter last week. “As this race comes down to every last vote, I need you to help us ensure we have the resources to finish what we started!”

Ballot updates expected on Wednesday

Wednesday 16 November 2022 05:00 , Alex Woodward

An updated tally in the still too close to call race between Lauren Boebert and Adam Frisch will be released on Wednesday, the deadline for counties to receive ballots from military and overseas voters.

But the next round of updates will not only include those ballots. County officials will also include some absentee ballots as well as ballots from service members and voters overseas.

“Our county clerks and bipartisan poll watching teams are taking great care with counting every vote, and we must be patient as we allow this process to play out,” Mr Frisch has said in a statement.

Wednesday is also the deadline for voters to “cure” their mailed-in ballots, a process to fix any issues with signatures or other issues.

The husband and wife duo who might’ve triggered the midterms’ biggest upset

Wednesday 16 November 2022 03:00 , Alex Woodward

It was one of the biggest shocks of the 2022 midterms. When the so-called “red wave” receded and it became clear that Republicans wouldn’t sweep statehouses and seats in Congress, an unlikely political upset was playing out in western Colorado.

As election night unfolded, far-right Colorado congresswoman Lauren Boebert, the Maga flamethrower who represents the state’s 3rd congressionald district, suddenly found herself in the fight of her political life.

Now, Ms Boebert’s race remains uncalled – an unthinkable outcome for the conservative firebrand who was expected to cruise to reelection.

If Ms Boebert ultimately goes down, Democrats may have a husband-and-wife political duo in Colorado to thank for flipping the seat blue.

The Independent’s Eric Garcia reports:

The secret behind the biggest upset of the midterms. No Biden, no Pelosi, no Schumer