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The campaigns of Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democratic challenger Scott Colom are turning to lawyers as a dispute over thousands of affidavit ballots threatens to prolong Mississippi's undecided U.S. Senate race.
Nearly 20,000 votes remain uncounted, including mail-in absentee and affidavit ballots, according to an estimate from Mississippi Republican Party Chairman Mike Hurst reported by WAPT. Colom holds a narrow lead over Hyde-Smith, but the outstanding votes could determine the outcome of the race.
Affidavit ballots, also known as provisional ballots, allow voters to cast a ballot when their eligibility cannot be immediately verified at the polls. Election officials must review those ballots before determining whether they can be counted.
Hyde-Smith's campaign sent a letter to election workers across the state's 82 counties asking them to keep affidavit ballots separate from other ballots and track them individually. The campaign said the measures would help preserve the ballots in case the election results are challenged, WAPT reported.
Hurst said the Mississippi Republican Party is working with Hyde-Smith's campaign and national Republican organizations to ensure the ballots are properly counted.
"The Mississippi Republican Party has been working closely with Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith's campaign, the RNC, the NRSC, NRLA, to make sure that every vote is counted and every vote is protected throughout this process," Hurst said.
"We are going to fight like hell to make sure every legal vote that was cast is counted," he added.
Colom's campaign sent its own letter to election workers, arguing that Hyde-Smith's request is unlawful and that separating affidavit ballots could compromise voter privacy by allowing officials to connect individual ballots to specific voters.
Colom expressed confidence in his campaign's position as he maintains a lead over Hyde-Smith.
"You can go look at what precincts are out, go in a new direction. I'm confident of that," he said.
During an appearance at Brent's Drugs on Thursday (November 5), Colom also thanked supporters for their involvement in the election.
"I feel gratitude to the people of Mississippi and I am proud of our state and what we are showing the country," he said.
Meanwhile, voting rights advocates are urging Mississippi voters who cast affidavit ballots to make sure their votes are counted.
In a video shared Thursday (November 5), activist Brittany Packnett Cunningham explained that voters who were required to cast affidavit ballots because they did not have photo identification at the polls must present an acceptable ID at their county clerk's office by 5 p.m. Tuesday (November 10) for their ballots to count.
She also announced plans to join Black Voters Matter for a phone-banking effort Friday (November 6) to help voters understand the process.
With the race still uncalled, the handling of outstanding ballots could determine whether Hyde-Smith wins another term or Colom makes history as Mississippi’s first Black U.S. senator since Reconstruction.
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