Tells of possible consequences of close elections (8)
I believe the answer is:
recounts
I believe this is a double definition.
'tells' is the first definition.
('recount' can be a synonym of 'tell')
'possible consequences of close elections' is the second definition.
'of' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for recounts that I've seen before include "Describes" , "Trounces in second aggregations of votes" , "Checks vote numbers again" , "Tells (story); election checks" , "Narrates" .)