JACKSON, Miss. (Queen City Newsfeed) – The Mississippi Senate race is still too close to call two days after Election Day. Democrat Scott Colom leads Republican U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by 1,822 votes. Thursday afternoon at 4:00pm Colom has 466,747 votes. Hyde-Smith has 464,925.
The Associated Press has not called the race. Meanwhile, both sides are getting ready for a possible legal fight over the ballots that are left.
What the campaigns are saying
Both campaigns say they expect to win. Colom posted a statement on his campaign’s Facebook page. “I am confident that when votes are counted, we will flip this seat,” Colom wrote.
Colom said his campaign is working to make sure every eligible voter is heard. He said the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Elias Law Group, attorney Lisa Ross and local lawyers are part of that effort.
Hyde-Smith’s campaign also released a statement. “Cindy Hyde-Smith is going to represent Mississippi in the United States Senate for the next six years,” it reads.
The campaign said it believes thousands of votes are still out in dozens of Republican counties. It also said election officials must have time to finish their work. “We expect Democratic lawyers to pull out every stop, and we are prepared,” the statement reads.
Lawyers send demand to all 82 counties
On Thursday, lawyers for the Hyde-Smith campaign sent a letter to election commissioners and circuit clerks in all 82 counties. The letter demands that counties separate, secure and save every affidavit ballot from the election. The National Republican Senatorial Committee also shared the letter. That group works to elect Republican senators.
Voters fill out affidavit ballots when there is a question at the polls. For example, a voter may not have a photo ID. Also, a voter’s name may not appear on the list. Election commissioners then review each ballot and decide if it can count.
The letter says these ballots could become evidence. For example, lawyers could use them in a ballot box exam. Lawyers could also use them in an election contest, which is a legal challenge to the result. Another option is a case before the U.S. Senate.
“Candidate Hyde-Smith is entitled to their preservation in an unaltered and identifiable state,” the letter reads.
The letter tells each county to do three things:
- Keep affidavit ballots apart from regular and absentee ballots.
- Keep a record of what happens to each ballot, including whether the county accepted or rejected it.
- Save other records, such as envelopes, computer logs and any video of where ballots are kept.
However, the letter also says this work must not slow the count. It also says the work must not stop any legal ballot from counting or show how anyone voted. The letter asked counties to reply by 5 p.m. Thursday.
Colom campaign manager Gerard Henderson pushed back. “This desperate stunt from national Republicans is what you do when you know you’re about to lose a race,” Henderson said.
Republican chairman speaks in Jackson
Mike Hurst leads the Mississippi Republican Party. He is also the top lawyer for the Republican National Committee. He spoke to reporters Thursday afternoon outside the Hinds County Courthouse.
Hurst called the letter “standard procedure” in an election this close. He said the goal is to make sure no evidence gets destroyed by accident or on purpose.
“This election is far from being over,” Hurst said.
Hurst said more than 50 volunteer lawyers and observers are working around the state. So far, he said, the party is only watching the process. However, he said Republicans will act if the facts show the law was not followed.
“We will not hesitate to hold election officials accountable,” Hurst said.
He also said the party would work to get all legal votes counted. “We at the Mississippi Republican Party are going to fight like hell to make sure that every legal vote that was cast is counted,” Hurst said.
A reporter asked if he had seen any evidence of illegal acts. Hurst said he did not want to get into details yet. He said he is not questioning whether the results can be trusted. Instead, he said, he wants to make sure officials follow the law.
“There’s no election denying going on here,” Hurst said. He added that Republicans will accept the outcome if voters have spoken and the law was followed.
A reporter also said state Democrats accuse Republicans of not playing fair. Hurst called that “absolute scaremongering.”
How many ballots are left?
No one has an exact number. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Michael Watson said about 3,600 mail ballots could still arrive. He also said the number of affidavit ballots was unknown.
The affidavit ballot estimates do not match. Hurst said Thursday that he believes about 17,000 are left. Colom’s campaign estimated 10,000 to 15,000 late Tuesday. Ross, a voting rights attorney working with the Colom campaign, told Mississippi Today the number is 14,000 to 18,000.
For comparison, Mississippi had 7,612 affidavit ballots cast in the 2022 midterms, the AP reported. Election officials counted 5,710 of those. Hurst called this year’s estimate “very abnormal.” When asked why the number is so high, he said he did not know.
Hurst also said most counties have shared their affidavit numbers, but some have refused. He called that “a little suspect.” However, he did not name those counties.
Each side says the remaining ballots favor its candidate. Hurst said a significant number are in Republican leaning areas, but he would not say where. Meanwhile, Colom said affidavit votes tend to favor Democrats, Mississippi Today reported.
Why some voters used affidavit ballots
Mississippi Today reported that more than 230,000 voters were marked inactive before Election Day. The report said that surge came after the state let counties use Experian credit bureau data to clean voter rolls.
Hundreds of voters learned they were not on the list when they got to the polls, WDAM reported. Watson defended the cleanup and said affidavit ballots protect voters from list errors. “Thankfully, affidavit voting is used to catch any errors,” Watson said.
Hurst said the Republican Party has also received a lot of calls about the issue. However, he said he does not know how widespread it was. It is not clear how many affidavit ballots came from this problem.
Mail ballot deadline and Hinds County
Mail ballots can count if they were postmarked by Election Day and arrive within five business days. That deadline is Tuesday, Nov. 10. The Republican National Committee and the state Republican Party sued over that law in 2024. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the law in a 5 to 4 ruling in June.
“The Supreme Court has spoken,” Hurst said. He said Republicans disagree with the ruling but will follow it.
Hurst also pointed to Hinds County. He called it the state’s most populous county and said its election commission has had past problems. He added that even Democratic election commissioners have complained. He would not say if Republicans would sue there.
Hinds County commissioners have asked the public for patience. Circuit Clerk Zack Wallace told the Mississippi Free Press that problems at the polls there were minimal.
What to do if you voted affidavit
If you voted affidavit because you did not have a photo ID, you have five business days to fix it. So, take an acceptable photo ID to your county circuit clerk’s office by Tuesday, Nov. 10.
If you voted affidavit for another reason, the Mississippi Center for Justice urges you to call your circuit clerk. Ask if election officials accepted your ballot. You can also check it with the My Election Day tool at yallvote.ms, WDAM reported.
Both sides want their voters to take these steps. Hurst urged Republican voters to go to the clerk’s office. Colom also said his team would help voters who need it, the AP reported.
- Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office: 1-800-829-6786
Mail ballots are still out in East Central Mississippi, too. Kicks96 reported these counts as of Monday: 38 in Neshoba County, 51 in Leake County and 45 in Attala County.
What happens next
Nov. 10 is the last day for mail ballots to arrive. It is also the last day for voters to show a photo ID.
Some counties are already counting affidavit ballots. However, others are waiting. Harrison County will not count them until Nov. 10. DeSoto County will start no earlier than that day.
Friday, Nov. 13, is the deadline for counties to send certified results to the Secretary of State.
Mississippi has no recount process, the Secretary of State’s Office told ABC News. However, a candidate can look at ballot materials after results are certified. Then that candidate can file a legal challenge. There will also be no runoff. The candidate with the most votes wins.
Democrats also have a team watching the count. Hundreds of volunteers and local lawyers are working across all 82 counties, the group Fair Fight told Mississippi Today. Asked how close Republicans are to filing a lawsuit, Hurst told reporters to come back in a couple of weeks.
