Mississippi Senate result unresolved as ballot counting and legal exchanges continue

Mississippi’s Senate contest between Democrat Scott Colom and Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith remained unresolved on 6 November as ballots continued to be counted. According to the Guardian, Colom was fewer than 2,000 votes ahead as attorneys and volunteers representing both parties observed the counting still under way across Mississippi.¹²

Outstanding ballots and verification

The BBC reported counting in the contest on 5 November. By 6 November, Democratic and Republican groups had sent hundreds of lawyers and volunteers to Mississippi’s 82 counties, according to the Guardian. National voting organisations and attorneys had also joined local groups involved in the post-election process, the newspaper reported.¹²

Mike Hurst, Mississippi Republican party chair and Republican National Committee general counsel, estimated that about 20,000 ballots remained outstanding, the Guardian reported. Speaking outside the Hinds County courthouse in Jackson, he said a substantial share were in Republican-leaning areas and expressed confidence that Hyde-Smith would win if election law was followed.¹

According to the Guardian’s account of the rules, voters who cast affidavit ballots without photo identification have five business days to supply acceptable identification or sign an affidavit recording a religious objection. The newspaper gave 10 November as the deadline for that verification process and for mail-in ballots to arrive.¹

Competing legal demands

The National Republican Senatorial Committee requested that county election commissioners and circuit clerks keep all affidavit ballots from the 3 November general election separate and preserve them. Its regional press secretary, Samantha Cantrell, said the committee wanted “every single lawful ballot is accurately counted and the voices of all Mississippians are heard”.¹

Colom’s legal counsel challenged that request in a letter to all 82 counties, according to the Guardian. The lawyers argued that the demands lacked a foundation in Mississippi law and that separating affidavit ballots already accepted could breach election law and voters’ rights. Those were the campaign lawyers’ legal arguments, not a reported court ruling.¹

Colom’s campaign manager, Gerard Henderson, described the Republican letter as a “desperate stunt”. The campaign said Colom would become the state’s next US senator after all lawful ballots had been counted, according to the Guardian. That assertion and Hurst’s prediction of a Hyde-Smith victory came while the result remained unresolved.¹

County-level procedures

Mississippi has no automatic recount provision, according to the Guardian. The newspaper said that obtaining a recount entails suing either a county or its election commission and then securing an order from a court. It also reported that state law provides no statewide ballot-challenge procedure, leaving challenges to be pursued separately in individual counties.¹

The NAACP asked county election commissions to adhere to state law during counting and certification and said it was monitoring the process throughout Mississippi. Its president and chief executive, Derrick Johnson, said: “Every voter in Mississippi deserves to have their vote counted strictly according to the law.”¹