Mississippi Senate Race Stuns Nation As Colom Holds Lead Over Hyde

Democrat Scott Colom currently holds a lead of 2,536 votes over Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi, according to the Daily Wire. This margin is smaller than the 2,578 outstanding absentee ballots that officials must still process by Tuesday.

Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson confirmed on Monday evening that election officials can accept more mail ballots through the end of Tuesday. The Washington Times reported that the race remains uncalled one week after voters went to the polls.

Counting Still Underway

Watson explained that many counties are still working through their vote totals as new data comes in. He noted that 75 of the state’s 82 counties have submitted unofficial results to the state portal. Even one county submitted official results before the November 13 deadline.

“Some have asked what it means when you see ‘unofficial results’? Those counties are still working through the process, so after each round of processing more votes their totals increase,” Watson said.

Election officials across the state have already processed 15,547 affidavit ballots with a roughly 76% acceptance rate. These ballots are cast when a voter’s name is missing from the poll book or their address has changed. The acceptance rate for these specific ballots was between 70-75% in the last two election cycles.

Processing any provisional ballots must be completed by counties before November 13. Up to five business days are allowed for counting ballots if they are postmarked by Election Day. Since polls closed, approximately 1,000 mail-in ballots have already been received.

Campaigns React to Tally

Colom’s campaign manager Gerard Henderson expressed confidence on Monday that the Democrat would win once counting finishes. He stated that the final count would show his candidate as the victor.

“We’re confident that once every lawful vote is counted, he’ll be Mississippi’s next U.S. senator,” Henderson said.

Henderson also thanked supporters for their work during the election. He told reporters, “Thank you to everyone who got us here and believes Mississippi Matters!”