Why It Matters
Mississippi election officials continued processing outstanding ballots Friday as the U.S. Senate race between Scott Colom and Cindy Hyde-Smith remained too close to call. The count could affect the final result in a contest with nearly 1 million votes cast.
What Happened
Colom led Hyde-Smith by nearly 2,500 votes while local officials worked through absentee and affidavit ballots across Mississippi. Lawyers and voting-rights advocates monitored the process, with organizations calling for transparency and urging the public not to interfere with ballot counting.
Harya Tarekegn, director of advocacy and policy at the Mississippi Center for Justice, said the state had about 20,000 affidavit ballots in the Senate race. She said election commission meetings were open to the public and that voters facing identification issues needed to return to their local circuit clerks’ offices with valid identification.
DeSoto County had about 2,100 affidavit ballots, and Colom led Hyde-Smith there by six percentage points. Rankin County had 1,667 ballots remaining, with Hyde-Smith ahead. Madison County had 1,931 remaining, while Colom held a narrow lead.
In Hinds County, the Election Commission processed ballots by hand in downtown Jackson. Ray Chambers predicted the commission would complete the work in time.
Mississippi’s election system is administered from the county level. The state’s 82 county circuit clerks and election commissions process affidavit and absentee ballots, and the commissions were not operating under one unified counting schedule.
Hyde-Smith’s campaign said it was continuing its effort and that the election was not over. Colom said Hyde-Smith should answer questions from the public and media, asking, “Where is she? Why is she not doing any interviews? Why can’t she explain what her pathway to success is?” Colom did not call for Hyde-Smith to concede.
The Senate Republicans’ fundraising arm demanded that officials separate and preserve affidavit ballots. The Colom campaign said that request was illegal and violated voter privacy. Accepted affidavit ballots are supposed to be handled like other ballots without attached names, and state and federal courts have upheld voter privacy and secret ballots.
By the Numbers
Nearly 1 million — votes cast in the Senate race
Nearly 2,500 votes — Colom’s lead over Hyde-Smith
About 20,000 — affidavit ballots in Mississippi
About 2,100 — affidavit ballots in DeSoto County
Six percentage points — Colom’s lead in DeSoto County
1,667 — affidavit ballots remaining in Rankin County
1,931 — affidavit ballots remaining in Madison County
82 — county circuit clerks and election commissions processing ballots
Zoom Out
The Mississippi count illustrates the state’s county-by-county election administration structure. Local commissions are handling outstanding ballots on different schedules while public officials and campaigns dispute how affidavit ballots should be preserved and protected.
What’s Next
Affidavit counting was expected to continue through the weekend. Officials faced a Nov. 13 deadline for processing and transmitting results.