LIVE: Mississippi Senate ballot fight heats up

Nov. 6, 2:20 PM EST

Colom condemns Mississippi’s use of Experian for voter roll problems

Democrat Scott Colom criticized Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson’s use of credit reporting company Experian to check voter rolls, arguing that the practice improperly moved voters to inactive status and contributed to problems in the closely contested Senate race.

Speaking with Democracy Docket Friday, Colom said his campaign has heard from voters who don’t understand why their ballots were rejected.

“I have people texting me all the time saying, you know, they don’t know why their ballot was rejected,” Colom said.

Asked whether the unusually large number of affidavit ballots could be connected to the state’s use of Experian, Colom said he had warned about the issue months earlier.

“I said this months ago that this was a problem,” he said.
Colom described a friend who discovered he had been marked inactive despite voting regularly. He said his campaign and other organizations subsequently worked to reach voters whose registrations had been affected.

“The Secretary of State should never use Experian,” Colom said. “And, you know, now he’s created all this chaos.”

Colom urged voters experiencing ballot problems to speak up and contact his campaign, saying lawyers were prepared to help them.

Nov. 6, 1:30 PM EST

Scott Colom talks Tolstoy 

As the vote count in Mississippi’s Senate race continues, Democrat Scott Colom took a moment to discuss with Democracy Docket something other than politics: his love of Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy.

Asked why he loves Anna Karenina, Colom explained that the novel captures a lesson about the pursuit of happiness.

“Happiness is not the realization of desires,” Colom said. “Happiness is the choice to be happy.”

Colom called Tolstoy his favorite writer, praising both his storytelling and his ability to connect with readers.

“You know, you’ve got to write for people to read,” he said. “I love that he did that.”

Colom also picked up four books at Marshall’s Book Store Stop, including The Autobiography of Medgar Evers.

Nov. 6, 12:45 pm EST

Colom to voters worried about ballot challenges: ‘Be your voice!’

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Scott Colom met with Jackson seniors at a community center Friday as his race remains too close to call.

During the visit, Colom urged voters to check whether their ballots remain uncounted. He also criticized a new Republican effort to potentially challenge outstanding ballots across the state.

“I have people texting me all the time saying they don’t know why their ballot was rejected. They’re very concerned,” he said. 

“If you feel like something was done improperly, be your voice!” Colom added. “Let us know.”

Colom also had sharp words for Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson, whose use of credit data to check the state’s voter rolls this year may have contributed to large numbers of voters being declared “inactive.” That required them to vote by “affidavit” — i.e. provisional — ballot in the election. 

Mississippi residents told Democracy Docket they are confident Colom will be declared victor. However, several also said they are worried a prolonged legal battle could erupt over the contest.

Nov. 6, 12:30 PM EST

Colom’s lead grows slightly, but Mississippi Senate vote count continues

Democrat Scott Colom’s lead over Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith has grown slightly to 2,010 votes, according to the latest AP results Friday.

Colom has received 466,959 votes to Hyde-Smith’s 465,023, widening his lead by just 123 votes from Thursday evening, when he was ahead by 1,813 votes.

The margin remains remarkably tight as Mississippi election officials continue counting outstanding ballots in the unresolved Senate race.

Nov. 6, 10:30 AM EST

Mississippi makes it harder to cast a ballot than almost anywhere else. Voters defied the system

Mississippi voter turnout skyrocketed this year — bringing Democratic Senate candidate Scott Colom close to an unlikely win — despite perhaps the nation’s most restrictive voting system.

Over 950,000 votes had been counted in the race as of Thursday morning, with 10,000 or more still to come. That’s compared to just 710,000 total votes in the last midterms — when Mississippi ranked dead last in the nation for turnout.

Read more here.

Nov. 5, 7:48 PM EST

Colom campaign says GOP seeks to ‘violate Mississippi voters’ rights’ as legal battle ignites

Democratic Senate candidate Scott Colom’s campaign is pushing back against Republicans who demanded Mississippi election officials “separate and preserve” provisional ballots cast in the race — the first step in a likely bid to contest some of those votes.

In a letter published Thursday evening, Colom’s counsel* said those demands “have no basis in Mississippi law” and would require officials to “violate Mississippi voters’ rights.” 

Colom, a district attorney, appears poised to achieve a remarkable upset against incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R). But the race has all the ingredients of a legal powder keg: unclear election laws, extremely tight margins, thousands of uncounted ballots, and an army of lawyers lying in wait.

Read more here.

Nov. 5, 5:50 PM EST

For voting rights organizers in Jackson, the work is just beginning

Black voting rights organizers worked around the clock to push historical turnout this midterm season. Now, with all eyes on Mississippi, they’re working relentlessly to ensure every vote cast will count in the down-to-the-wire U.S. Senate race.

Angela Grayson, who leads civic engagement and voting rights efforts at the Mississippi Women’s Roundtable, has spent her day fielding calls from voters who had to cast affidavit ballots. Many are now worried about the status of their vote. Grayson said she’s reminding voters they have until Nov. 10 to cure their ballots.

In between calls, Grayson stopped at Jackson State University to help students get the resources they need for curing their affidavit ballots. Later this evening, the Mississippi Women’s Roundtable, along with other community partners, plans to host a local town hall to get the most up-to-date information to voters.

Grayson said the mood in Jackson is “ecstatic” but that the work is far from over.

“I’ll say this: We are courageously optimistic,” Grayson told Democracy Docket. “And I know that’s a twist on that thing because folks sometimes say they’re cautiously optimistic, but we don’t have time for caution in our optimism” 

Nov. 5, 5:30 PM EST

NAACP president calls for ‘massive reform of our voting policy’

In his interview with Democracy Docket, Johnson also talked about the need to expand access to voting, in Mississippi and across the country. 

Thousands of Magnolia State voters were made inactive ahead of the election, complicating their efforts to have their vote counted. And Mississippi disenfranchises nearly 70,000 people, disproportionately Black, because of past felony convictions. 

In addition, Mississippi requires an excuse to vote by mail, while having no in-person early voting.

“Quite frankly, we need new election laws not only in this state, but across this country, so that voting is more accessible,” Johnson said. “There’s no reason why we have voter registration. That’s voter suppression. There’s no reason why you are assigned to a specific polling place. That’s voter suppression. There is no reason why, in this state, there is no no-excuse early voting provision. That’s voter suppression.”

“And it’s outrageous to require someone to vote between 7 and 7 on a Tuesday or a workday, who may not have the latitude to get to work late or get off early enough to vote,” Johnson added. “That’s vote suppression.”

“So hopefully we can have a massive reform of our voting policy in the state to make it more accessible to every legal voter,” he said.

Nov. 5, 5:00pm EST

Colom maintains narrow lead over Hyde-Smith as vote count continues

Democrat Scott Colom leads Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) by 1,822 votes in Mississippi’s closely contested U.S. Senate race, according to AP.

The margin has fluctuated as additional results come in. Colom previously led by 1,724 votes earlier in the afternoon.

Nov. 5, 4:30 pm EST

NAACP deploys legal teams to Mississippi

The NAACP has deployed 23 national staff members across Jackson and Biloxi to help Mississippi voters navigate provisional ballot requirements and ensure eligible votes are counted in the state’s closely contested Senate race.

“Black voters in Mississippi did everything right. They registered, turned out, stood in line, and cast their ballots. Now the process has to do its part,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson, a Jackson resident, said in a statement. “Our field and legal teams are working around the clock in Mississippi to make sure voters who used provisional ballots are counted,” Johnson added. “With margins this thin, this is what we mean when we say every vote counts.”

Nov. 5, 4:05 PM EST

GOP letter a ‘desperate stunt,’ says Colom campaign

The Colom campaign has responded to the GOP’s letter demanding Mississippi election officials separate and preserve all affidavit ballots — a likely first step to challenging votes.

“This desperate stunt from national Republicans is what you do when you know you’re about to lose a race,” the campaign said. “We’re confident that when every lawful ballot is counted, Scott Colom will be Mississippi’s next U.S. senator.” 

Nov. 5, 3:33 pm EST

Reading between the lines 

When Hurst says the party will “fight like hell to make sure that every legal vote that was cast is counted,” pay attention to the “legal” part. Also note his comment that “we don’t know if [election officials] are going to follow the law.”

It’s a signal, if one were needed, that the core of the Republican effort will in fact be aimed at throwing out votes it claims aren’t legal, and are thought to have been cast by Democrats. That’s what the battle will be over.

Nov. 5, 3:30 PM EST

GOP casts doubt on election counting

“We believe if the laws are followed to a T, and these 20,000 outstanding ballots are counted, that Senator [Cindy Hyde-Smith] will be reelected,” Hurst said. 

“Let me be clear. There is no election denying going on. If the laws are followed and the voters spoke, that is it. And Mississippi Republicans will accept that,” Hurst said.

However, he added, “We’ve never seen this volume of affidavit ballots around this state, and so we don’t know how election officials are going to process these. We don’t know if they’re going to follow the law.”

Nov. 5, 3:26 PM EST

‘Abnormal’ number of affidavit ballots

“We believe that there are approximately 17,000 outstanding affidavit ballots and over 3,000 outstanding mail-in ballots. That’s where we came up with, again, an approximation of 20,000 outstanding and uncounted ballots,” Hurst said. 

“To my knowledge, that is very abnormal in any race that we’ve seen in Mississippi’s history,” Hurst said of the estimated 17,000 affidavit ballots. Asked whether that was higher than normal, he responded, “Very much higher than normal. Yes.”

More than 100 precincts were changed or closed in Mississippi this year, leading to more people casting affidavit ballots, according to pro-voting group Mississippi Votes. Voters have until Nov. 10 to ensure their ballot has been cured and their vote counted. 

Nov. 5, 3:20 PM EST

‘Every legal vote’

“We at the Mississippi Republican Party are going to fight like hell to make sure that every legal vote that was cast is counted,” Hurst said. 

Republicans on Thursday sent a letter to Mississippi election officials demanding they preserve all ballots and election records, which could be the first step in a bid to challenge individual voters’ ballots.

“We at the Mississippi Republican Party will be watching this process closely, county by county, every single county, specifically examining the results and the procedures that produce those results before that certification is complete,” Hurst said.

Nov. 5, 3:15 PM EST

Republicans promise ‘to act swiftly’ on legal challenges 

“If the facts show that our laws were not followed, we will be ready to act swiftly, and we will not hesitate to hold election officials accountable,” Hurst added. “We will be prepared if and when we find evidence the law has been violated.”

Nov. 5, 3:13 PM EST

20,000 ballots left to count

“Right now, we estimate that there could be approximately 20,000 outstanding ballots left to be counted. That includes mail-in or absentee ballots and affidavit or provisional ballots,”  Mike Hurst, Mississippi GOP chairman and RNC general counsel, said at the press conference.

Nov. 5, 2:42 pm EST

GOP kicks off bid to throw out votes in Mississippi Senate race 

The Republican Party is demanding that Mississippi election officials “segregate and preserve” all provisional ballots cast in the midterms — the first step in a likely bid to throw out votes in the state’s extremely close U.S. Senate race. 

Read more here.

Nov. 5, 2:38 pm EST

Thousands of Mississippi voters need their ballots ‘cured.’ Here’s how the process works

Democrat Scott Colom’s extremely narrow lead over Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi’s closely-watched Senate race means the victor could be decided by a handful of ballots that have currently been set aside for various technical deficiencies.

There were an estimated 8,000 to 12,000 affidavit ballots left to be counted as of Wednesday evening. Errors on ballots are routine and can often be corrected through a process known as curing. 

Read more here.

Nov. 5, 2:35 pm EST

Mississippi made thousands of valid voters inactive ahead of critical Senate race

Thousands of Mississippians whose votes may decide a critical U.S. Senate race, in which Democrat Scott Colom holds a slim lead over Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) are still waiting to have their ballots counted. That’s because of the Republican secretary of state’s contract with Experian, a global credit reporting agency whose data has been described as riddled with errors, that threw thousands of voters into “inactive” status in the months leading up to the general election.

Read more here.