The Mississippi U.S. Senate race remains undecided, as Democratic challenger Scott Colom leads incumbent Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by just 65 votes in the current vote count, NBC News reported.
As ballots continue to be tallied following Tuesday’s election, attention has turned to an unknown number of outstanding votes that could alter the outcome and trigger a complex recount process. Mississippi has not experienced close vote counts or postelection drama in recent years, but Colom’s strong showing comes amid a string of Democratic Senate victories in red states nationwide. While Democrats maintain a Senate majority without capturing Mississippi, the seat would mark their reddest pickup and add to a series of southern wins spanning Texas and South Carolina after years of setbacks.
National operatives have flooded the state. Staff members from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Elias Law Group arrived Wednesday to oversee the party’s legal efforts to ensure every vote is counted, according to a source familiar with the strategy. A partner with the Elias Law Group, which represents the Colom campaign, told NBC News they traveled to Mississippi to investigate the uncounted ballots.
We’re prepared to litigate, though we were prepared for this for months,
Colom said at a Wednesday morning news conference. We have an army of lawyers. We have local lawyers. We have everybody involved to make sure the process is followed according to the law.
WLBT reported that Colom declared confidence in the outcome during his Wednesday address, telling supporters he believes outstanding ballots will carry him past Hyde-Smith. As of early Wednesday, Colom held a razor-thin advantage of 462,821 votes to Hyde-Smith’s 462,778, with independent candidate Ty Pinkins drawing 19,935 votes. Because federal general elections in Mississippi do not trigger a runoff, the candidate with a plurality claims the seat. Where we are, where the ballots are, we’re gonna win,
Colom told supporters. This is our election. We’ve won it. The people have done it. They’ve decided to go in a new direction. I’m confident of that.
Counting Outstanding Ballots
Both the Colom campaign and Hyde-Smith’s campaign manager, Jake Monssen, acknowledged Wednesday that thousands of ballots remain uncounted, though the exact total stays unclear. Data from the Mississippi secretary of state’s office indicated that roughly 6,000 mail ballots had been distributed but not returned as of Monday. In Mississippi, mail ballots postmarked by Election Day count if they arrive by 5 p.m. on November 10.
An unknown count of provisional affidavit ballots also remains outstanding, issued to voters lacking proper identification or missing from registered voter lists. Mikell Bolden, executive director of the Mississippi Democratic Party, stated in a phone interview Wednesday that the party’s election hotline received about 2,000 calls Tuesday from voters who were told they had to cast affidavit ballots despite being certain of their registration. Voters could not check their status online because the secretary of state’s website crashed.
Bolden said the state party, the Colom campaign, and the national party are reaching out via phone calls, text messages, and robocalls to help affected voters return ballots or resolve ID issues by Tuesday. Everything is on the line right now for this state,
Bolden said.
Republicans are preparing for a legal fight as well. Monssen stated Wednesday that the Hyde-Smith campaign is closely monitoring the remaining count and remains confident of victory. Joanna Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told NBC News that the organization is committed to ensuring every lawful ballot is accurately counted.
County election officials must transmit final election results to the secretary of state by November 13.
Mississippi Law Denies Statewide Recount Options
Ben Griffith, a voting rights and election law attorney who teaches at the University of Mississippi, told NBC News that options for challenging the results are limited. Mississippi state law provides no mechanism for an election recount, nor does it allow a U.S. Senate general election race to be contested otherwise.
Candidates can challenge results county by county by filing intentions with particular county clerks to examine ballot box contents. However, with 82 counties and just days until canvassing concludes, Griffith noted that approach is unfeasible. While local elections feature avenues for challenging results with the Legislature, those mechanisms do not apply to U.S. Senate races.
