Mississippi’s U.S. Senate race remained uncalled on Monday morning, with Democrat Scott Colom holding a narrow lead over Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith and county officials still working through affidavit ballots.
The latest Associated Press tally, from Friday afternoon at 5pm, put Colom ahead by 2,574 votes — 467,930 to 465,356 — out of more than 950,000 cast statewide, according to the AP, as reported by the Mississippi Free Press and other outlets. No newer AP tally had been published by Monday morning.
Decision Desk HQ had a slightly different figure, with Colom ahead by 2,696 votes. The two tallies update at different times as counties report, so small differences between them are normal at this stage of the count.
Affidavit ballots decide the race
Thousands of votes remain, and most are expected to be affidavit ballots — Mississippi’s term for provisional ballots cast by voters whose eligibility could not be confirmed at the polling place. County officials must check identification and decide which of them count.
Oktibbeha County has released its affidavit results, according to the Mississippi Free Press liveblog. Out of 503 processed affidavit ballots, Colom received 401 votes, Hyde-Smith received 96, and independent Ty Pinkins took five — an 80 percent to 19 percent margin for Colom in a county Donald Trump won.
That result is striking because Colom had led Hyde-Smith in Oktibbeha by 60 percent to 38.9 percent on regular ballots, according to the AP figures cited by the Free Press. The affidavit margin suggests the remaining ballots may favour Colom, though each county’s affidavit pool is different.
Hinds County, a majority-Black county where Colom leads the overall total by 79 percent to 19 percent, according to the Free Press, is still counting affidavit ballots and has not released any figures yet. Observers expect thousands of the remaining affidavit votes to come from Hinds County.
The deadlines ahead
Mail-in absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day, 3 November, must reach circuit clerks by 5pm on Tuesday, 10 November. Rankin County election commissioners will begin scanning affidavit ballots into voting machines at around 5pm on Tuesday, 10 November, at their office in Brandon, according to the Free Press liveblog.
Counties have until Friday, 13 November, to submit certified results to the state. Mississippi has no automatic recount law, and no route for a candidate to request one, so any dispute over the result would have to go to court after certification.
The AP said the number of ballots still outstanding is uncertain, and that it calls a race once it determines the trailing candidate has no path to catch up. For now, Colom’s lead has widened in ten straight counts, according to the Daily Letter, but the race is still too early to call.
