Mississippi election officials have processed 14,239 affidavit ballots and accepted roughly 77% of them ahead of a Nov 10 deadline, as Democrat Scott Colom widened his lead over Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith to 2,574 votes, or 0.27 percentage points. Secretary of State Michael Watson reported that 75 of the state’s 82 counties have uploaded unofficial results and 2,732 absentee mail ballots remain outstanding before Tuesday’s cutoff to receive postmarked mail ballots and resolve provisional votes, with counties required to submit certified totals by Friday, Nov 13.
State election officials are facing scrutiny over their voter roll maintenance after thousands of residents were forced to cast affidavit ballots because their names were missing from precinct poll books or they lacked required photo identification, CNN and NBC News reported. Voters who were told they were not on the rolls on Election Day were unable to verify their registration status after the secretary of state’s website crashed, prompting NAACP attorneys and election observers to work the phones in Mississippi to assist voters before the deadline.
Hyde-Smith returned to the US Capitol on Monday after making no public appearances since election night and declined to answer questions about the uncalled race, telling reporters, “I don’t do hallway interviews.” While her campaign maintained that thousands of uncounted votes in Republican counties would secure her reelection, Decision Desk HQ said the vote shifts heavily indicate Colom will win after he flipped traditionally Republican DeSoto County by 6 percentage points.
