迈克·卡塔利尼 华盛顿 —— 周二大选的赌注 —— 哪个党派将控制国会 —— 清楚明了。但何时能知晓结果却无法预料。
MIKE CATALINI WASHINGTON — The stakes in Tuesday’s election — which party will control Congress — are crystal clear. But when that will be known is impossible to say.
美联社将宣布所有435个众议院选区和今年参选的35个参议院席位的胜负。
The Associated Press will be calling races in all 435 House districts and the 35 Senate contests that are up for election this year.
众议院控制权取决于哪个党派达到218个席位。目前，有219名成员与共和党结盟，仅比所有席位都填满时所需的最低多数多出一席。目前有两个空缺。
Control of the House depends on which party reaches 218 seats. Currently, 219 members caucus with Republicans, just one more than the minimum needed for a majority when all seats are filled. There are two vacancies now.
参议院的门槛是：民主党需要51席，共和党只需50席，因为副总统JD·万斯可以为其党派投下决定性一票。共和党目前在参议院以53比47领先。
The bar for the Senate is 51 seats for Democrats or 50 for Republicans, since Vice President JD Vance can cast a tiebreaking vote for his party. Republicans have a 53-47 edge in the Senate right now.
在2022年的上届中期选举中，美联社在选举日后四天宣布参议院控制权归属，而众议院则在八天后宣布。
During the last midterm elections in 2022, the AP called control of the Senate four days after Election Day, while the House call was eight days after.
在2024年的总统选举周期中，两者间隔更大。参议院控制权在选举日次日宣布，众议院则在八天后宣布。
During the presidential cycle of 2024, there was a bigger gap between the two. Senate control was called the day after Election Day, with the House call coming eight days later.
一些州一贯需要数天才能清点完所有选票。作为全国人口最多的州，加利福尼亚州在选举日当天收到数以千计的邮寄选票。2022年，该州一半的选票是在选举日后清点的。
Some states consistently take days to count all their ballots. California , the nation’s most populous, has seen thousands of mail ballots dropped off on Election Day. In 2022 , half the state’s votes were counted after Election Day.
阿拉斯加和缅因州等其他州采用排序选择制投票，今年这些州有关键的参议院竞选。
Other states like Alaska and Maine , which have key Senate races this year, use ranked choice voting.
候选人若在首轮获得超过50%的选票即可获胜，但若无人达到该门槛，则得票最少的首选候选人被淘汰，其选票将重新分配给选民的第二选择。这一过程可能显著延迟结果公布。
A candidate can win with more than 50% of votes in the first round, but if no one reaches that threshold then the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated and their votes are redistributed to the voter’s second choice. The process can significantly delay results.
美联社不做预测，只有在确定落后候选人没有任何翻盘可能时，才会宣布胜者。
The AP does not make projections and will only declare a winner when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow the trailing candidates to close the gap.