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

JACKSON, MISS. — 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.

At the center of the brewing legal battle are approximately 17,000 affidavit — or provisional — ballots and another 3,000 mail-in ballots that remain uncounted. Most of them are concentrated in Hinds County, home to the state capital, Jackson.

Republicans appear to have lit the fuse Thursday.

With its demands, the National Republican Senatorial Committee likely signaled a major effort to challenge tens of thousands of outstanding ballots that could decide the razor-thin race.

Outside of a state courthouse in Jackson, the chair of the Mississippi Republican Party also issued a stark warning: Conservative attorneys across the country are ready to deploy “at a moment’s notice to fight this fight and ensure that our elections are secure.”

“Make no mistake, no stone will be left unturned,” state GOP Chair Mike Hurst said.

Democrats and national civil rights organizations, in turn, are readying their own legal resources for possible Republican ballot challenges.

In the letter, Colom’s counsel instructed election officials to ignore Hyde-Smith’s demands  and “do as you are legally obligated to do: continue conducting this election using ordinary, lawful procedures.”

Current data, though limited, indicates that outstanding ballots could break heavily for Colom. An analysis by the Mississippi Free Press found that affidavit ballots in Mississippi’s Lafayette County went for Colom by a margin of 69% to 29%.

The stakes are high: If a ballot challenge emerges in Mississippi — one of the epicenters of the Civil Rights Movement — the votes of thousands of Black voters will likely be on the line. 

Given the racial makeup of Hinds County and remarkably strong Black voter turnout this year, it’s also likely that many of the affidavit ballots in particular were cast by Black voters. 

In an interview with Democracy Docket, NAACP CEO Derrick Johnson said the organization is preparing to do everything “to protect the interests of African American communities.”

“We will use whatever tools we have to do so, whether that’s filing a lawsuit or showing up en masse,” Johnson said.

“In this country, people settle their differences at the ballot box,” he added. “And if you try to steal the ballot box and steal our vote, we have to respond accordingly.”

*The Elias Law Group (ELG) represents the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and is active in the legal effort on behalf of the Colom campaign. ELG Firm Chair Marc Elias is the founder of Democracy Docket.