Election officials in Mississippi were still counting ballots on Friday in a Mississippi Senate race that remains too close to call, three days after Democrats swept to power in the midterm elections. Democrat Scott Colom held a narrow lead of about 2,000 votes over Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith, with roughly 96 percent of ballots counted.
The Associated Press count on Friday afternoon put Colom ahead by 2,009 votes, with 467,066 votes for Colom and 465,056 for Hyde-Smith, or 49.1 percent to 48.8 percent. No news outlet has called the race, and neither candidate has been declared the winner. The Mississippi Senate contest is the closest Senate count in the country.
The ballots still to count in the Mississippi Senate race
Thousands of ballots remain outstanding in the Mississippi Senate race. Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson said on Thursday that around 3,300 absentee ballots were still to be counted, while he separately estimated that between 12,000 and 20,000 provisional votes, known as affidavit ballots, remained uncounted.
Affidavit ballots need extra checks on the voter’s eligibility before they can be added to the final tally. Mississippi counties have until 10 November to resolve questions over those ballots, and until 13 November to certify their results. The state must certify its election results by 10 December.
Voters whose ballots need extra checks have until Tuesday, 10 November, to resolve questions about their eligibility. That deadline, known as the cure period, is one reason the count has stretched for days after Election Day, and it is also why the number of ballots still to be added could move the result in either direction.
The long count reflects Mississippi’s election rules, which give officials several days to process mail-in and provisional ballots. The Associated Press estimated on Friday that about 30,000 votes were still to be counted in the Mississippi Senate race, a number far larger than Colom’s lead.
Lawyers gather as the Mississippi Senate count continues
The close margin has brought lawyers from both parties to Mississippi. On Thursday, lawyers for Hyde-Smith sent a letter to election officials in all 82 Mississippi counties, demanding that affidavit ballots be kept separate from other ballots and that records on the outstanding ballots be preserved in case of legal challenges.
Colom’s lawyers answered with their own letter to each county, saying that keeping accepted affidavit ballots apart from other counted votes would break Mississippi law and put ballot secrecy at risk. The National Republican Senatorial Committee, which is acting for Hyde-Smith in legal matters, said it wanted to make sure every lawful ballot was accurately counted.
The committee’s letter also asked officials to keep custody records for all collected ballots and to keep federal election records for 22 months, as federal law requires. “As the democratic process continues to play out, we are committed to ensuring that every single lawful ballot is accurately counted and the voices of all Mississippians are heard,” regional press secretary Samantha Cantrell said in a statement.
More than 50 volunteer attorneys and observers were working across the state for Republicans as of Thursday, according to the Mississippi Republican Party. Democrats have also sent legal help, with the Elias Law Group leading the work for Colom and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee sending lawyers of its own. Fair Fight Action, founded by Stacey Abrams, is working with the Colom campaign as well.
Why the Mississippi Senate race matters
The Mississippi Senate seat could add to the Democratic majority in the Senate, which stands at a reported 54 seats, with the Alaska result also still leaning their way. Jessica Taylor, an analyst at The Cook Political Report, said votes appeared to be trending in Colom’s favour as counting continued.
Mississippi has no automatic recount procedure, although candidates can ask a court to rule on whether certain ballots should be included in the tally. No lawsuit had been filed as of the latest reporting, but both campaigns have said they are ready for a legal fight over the remaining ballots.
Colom, who is seeking to become the first Democrat to win a Mississippi Senate seat in decades, told Democracy Docket that his focus was on protecting the count. “My focus is making sure I have the lawyers, the organizers, and [that we’re] ready to make sure we protect the process and we protect the will of the voters,” he said.