The good news for Democrat Scott Colom is that he is still leading Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi’s unresolved Senate race. The bad news? Apparently, Mississippi is determined to make everybody wait until the last possible minute to find out who actually won.
As of midday Tuesday, Colom maintained a 2,536-vote advantage over Hyde-Smith in the unofficial tally, according to the Associated Press. But two important deadlines arrived Tuesday afternoon that could affect the outcome: resolving provisional ballots cast because of questions about voters’ eligibility and receiving mail-in absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day.
Once those votes are accounted for, officials in all 82 Mississippi counties have until the close of business Friday to certify their election results.
And there is plenty riding on those remaining ballots.
The largest number of outstanding votes Tuesday were in Hinds County, a Democratic stronghold surrounding the state capital of Jackson, with another significant batch remaining in neighboring Holmes County, which is even more reliably blue. The geographic distribution of those outstanding votes has continued to favor Colom, the Washington Post reports.
Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson, a Republican, said Monday that slightly more than 2,500 absentee mail-in ballots remained outstanding. He also reported that approximately 15,547 affidavit ballots had been processed, with roughly 76% accepted.
Campaign volunteers have been scrambling to help voters correct mistakes that left their ballots in limbo. Many of the contested ballots reportedly belonged to first-time or infrequent voters who may have run afoul of Mississippi’s strict registration and identification requirements. Democratic staffers said a significant percentage of those votes favored Colom.
There are also questions about whether eligible voters were improperly removed from the rolls. Mississippi Today reported that some voters were inactivated because of address discrepancies in voter information Watson purchased from credit reporting agency Experian.
Meanwhile, both campaigns have deployed lawyers and volunteers to monitor the count across the state.
Colom has continued making public appearances, including a virtual rally Sunday with Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams, actress Kerry Washington and entertainer Lance Bass. Hyde-Smith has largely kept a low profile.
Her campaign manager, Jake Monssen, said Monday that the campaign would remain vigilant until every legitimate vote had been counted.
Mississippi does not automatically recount close elections. Any candidate seeking to challenge the outcome must wait for certification and then file a lawsuit.
In other words, even Friday’s certification may not end this political cliffhanger.
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