MARK UDALL

In Maine, Republican Sen. Susan Collins won the hardest-fought race of her career, securing a fifth term by defeating Democrat Sara Gideon. Declaring victory Wednesday afternoon, Collins said the outcome was "affirmation of the work that I'm doing in Washington."

While Democrats picked up must-win seats in Colorado and Arizona, they suffered a setback in Alabama, and Republicans held their own in one race after another, dramatically limiting the places where Democrats hoped to make inroads.

Whether or not a mail ballot is counted could depend to a large degree on how local election workers enforce mail-in voting rules, how they notify voters who submit deficient ballots, and whether they allow them to fix such errors. Each of the 50 U.S. states has a central election authority, but ballots are processed by dozens of separate county or municipal election offices within each state.

Five Senators have asked Obama to impress upon the energy department to quicken the approval of applications for export licenses for natural gas to key allies.

Senator John Barrasso said the Obama administration should use its authority to make it easier for the US to export natural gas, oil and coal.