// BBC WORLD NEWS — MONDO
Why midterm vote-counting is taking so long in America's largest state
The results of the Alaska midterm elections might not be known until 18 November
For the last few weeks, in addition to its usual payload of passengers, medicine, and supplies, Alaska Seaplanes has carried some unique cargo: midterm election ballots.
The regional airline is a piece of a complex logistical puzzle that sees Alaskans' ballots cast by mail and in person carried across the vast expanse of America's largest state, which is primarily connected by water and air rather than roads.
This considerable task explains why, a week after most US states knew their results in the midterms - in which the Democrats won back both chambers of Congress from the Republicans - Alaskans are still waiting for the Senate race to be called.
The victor in this close contest between the incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan and his Democratic challenger, former congresswoman Mary Peltola, could remain unknown until 18 November, when officials expect to have counted all eligible ballots.
"We do feel a sense of pride of making sure we do the job right - the really complicated job of getting all these ballots across thousands of miles in Alaska," Andy Kline, the marketing director of Alaska Seaplanes, which serves the south-eastern part of the state, told the BBC.
"We feel like we're part of the last leg of that journey of those ballots."
An Alaska Seaplanes aircraft similar to the ones that transport ballots, along with other cargo and mail, during elections
Some precincts in Alaska are able to communicate their initial results to centralised election offices on election night, allowing state officials and news outlets to report some preliminary vote tallies.
But it takes some time for the full picture of how people have voted to emerge.