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By Sam Stevenson
Associate News Editor
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Mississippi’s unresolved U.S. Senate election has entered a decisive stage, with outstanding ballots set to determine the winner of one of the country’s closest midterm races.
Democrat Scott Colom led Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith by about 2,500 votes at the last count as officials reviewed affidavit ballots and awaited eligible mail votes. Independent candidate Ty Pinkins was sitting on about 2 percent at the time of writing, a potentially significant share in a race so tight.
Among the outstanding ballots are mail-in ballots that can arrive by today, Tuesday November 10, as long as they were postmarked by Election Day.
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Then, there are the affidavit ballots, which concern voters whose registration or identification could not immediately be confirmed. They may have to wait for local officials to determine whether their choices are included.
Counties must certify their results by Friday November 13.
Mississippi’s unusual election laws add uncertainty. Unlike most states, it has no standard statewide procedure automatically producing a recount when the margin falls below a set threshold.
Newsweek emailed the Colom and Hyde-Smith campaigns for comment on Tuesday morning.
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Why It Matters
Victory would give Colom a seat Republicans have controlled for almost four decades and make him the first Black U.S. senator elected by Mississippi since 1875.
For Hyde-Smith, who has served since 2018, the uncalled contest has become a fight over the last small share of the electorate rather than another comfortable statewide Republican win.
Key Points
- As of Monday, more than 15,000 affidavit ballots had been processed statewide, with officials reporting that roughly 76 percent were accepted.
- Secretary of State Michael Watson added the about 2,500 absentee ballots remained outstanding as of Monday. He added that 75 of Mississippi’s 82 counties had uploaded unofficial results, while one had submitted official results.
- Lawyers for Hyde-Smith on Thursday last week asked all 82 counties to keep affidavit ballots separate from other votes, but the request was not a lawsuit.
- Any post-certification challenge may need to target individual counties rather than the statewide total.
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What Is an Affidavit Ballot?
An affidavit ballot, often called a provisional ballot elsewhere, allows someone to vote when poll workers cannot immediately confirm that the person is eligible to cast a regular ballot at that location.
Possible reasons include a missing name in the poll book, an address question, uncertainty about the correct precinct or a problem with photo identification.
Local election officials set the ballot aside while they check the voter’s information. It is accepted only if those officials determine that the legal requirements were met.
That process does not reveal which candidate received the vote.
Michelle Adcock, the Rankin County circuit clerk, said the county kept accepted ballots unopened until a bipartisan resolution committee could handle them, WLBT reported.
“We don’t know if it’s a Republican ballot, Democrat ballot,” Adcock said. “All we have is a name and where they live.”
Adcock told WLBT her office had received numerous calls about the affidavit ballots.
“We’ve had a outcry from the public wanting to know about these affidavit ballots,” sher said.
Why There May Be Many
Voters identified as potentially having moved could be placed on inactive status. Under state procedures, an inactive voter can still cast an affidavit ballot while election officials check the person’s eligibility.
Counties' use of data from credit-reporting company Experian to clear out voter rolls—authorized by Mississippi's Secretary of State Office—has come under scrutiny as officials process thousands of affidavit ballots.
More than 230,000 voter registrations were made inactive statewide before Election Day, according to Mississippi Today.
Voting-rights advocates and election experts questioned whether errors in the unverified data contributed to potentially incorrect inactivations, the outlet reported. But Secretary of State Watson has defended the checks as part of maintaining accurate voter rolls and previously called the rollout “wildly successful.”
It is unclear how many of the 230,000+ inactive were affected by alleged inaccurate Experian information.
Newsweek emailed Secretary of State Watson's office and Experian for further comment on Tuesday morning.
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How Officials Decide Which Ballots Count
County election commissioners examine the information supplied with each affidavit ballot and compare it with registration records.
A vote may be approved if the person was registered, used the correct polling place and satisfied the identification rules. It can be rejected when eligibility cannot be confirmed or another legal requirement was not met.
Voters who did not show acceptable photo identification at the polls generally have five business days to present it to their circuit clerk’s office or complete an applicable religious-objection form.
In Hinds County, Election Commissioner Kidada Brown said the resolution committee was expected to make its decisions Wednesday, WLBT reported.
Rankin County officials were trying to finish sooner while emphasizing that speed would not take priority over a complete review.
Certification, which is to be done by Friday, creates an official county result, but it may not end the argument if the losing side identifies ballots or procedures it wants a court to examine.
Why Lawyers Are Already Involved
Attorneys for Hyde-Smith asked county officials Thursday in a letter to preserve records and keep affidavit ballots apart from regular and absentee votes.
The request could make disputed ballots easier to identify during a later examination.
Newsweek contacted Lex Politica, the law firm representing Hyde-Smith, by email on Tuesday for comment.
Colom’s campaign argued that no law creates a blanket duty to segregate every accepted affidavit ballot and warned that linking a ballot too closely to an individual could threaten voter secrecy.
Both sides have observers monitoring the review, reflecting how a routine county process has acquired national importance.
Could There Be a Recount?
Mississippi has no automatic statewide recount triggered by a close margin, nor a straightforward application allowing a candidate to demand one.
A campaign can inspect ballot boxes within the period allowed by state law and may use what it finds to support a legal challenge.
Because Mississippi lacks a single statewide contest procedure, disputes could be filed separately in any of its 82 counties.
A judge could order further examination or corrective action where a campaign demonstrates a legally significant problem.
The U.S. Senate also has constitutional authority to judge the election and qualifications of its members, although that would represent a separate and much later avenue.
Nationally, changed outcomes are uncommon. An analysis by the nonpartisan organization FairVote found that three of 37 completed statewide recounts between 2000 and 2025 reversed the original result.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.
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