Mississippi’s Senate race could take days to resolve, as Democrat Scott Colom leads Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by just 65 votes in the current vote count.
And as votes continue to be counted, all eyes are on an unknown number of ballots that could change the outcome — and lead to a very murky recount process.
Mississippi has not been the scene of close vote counts and post-election drama in recent years. But Colom’s strong performance comes as Democrats have won several Senate elections in red states across the country. Even though Democrats will gain a majority in the Senate without flipping Mississippi, this could be their red-hot victory yet.
And it would be another victory in a series of victories in the South, notably in Texas and South Carolina, after years of struggle for the Democrats.
National operatives are descending on the state, with members of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Elias Law Group on the ground Wednesday to lead the Democratic effort to ensure votes are counted, according to a source familiar with the matter, who was granted anonymity to discuss legal strategy.
A partner at the Elias Law Group, which served as counsel for the Colom campaign, told NBC News they were traveling to Mississippi to investigate the pending vote.
Colom, a local prosecutor, said at a news conference Wednesday morning: “We are ready to file a lawsuit, even though we have been preparing for it for months. We have an army of lawyers. We have local lawyers. We have everyone involved to ensure that the process is followed according to the law.”
Colom and Hyde-Smith campaign manager, Jake Monsen, both said Wednesday that there were “thousands” of outstanding ballots. But the exact number remains unclear.
About 6,000 mail-in ballots appear to have been distributed but not yet returned as of Monday, according to data from the Mississippi secretary of state’s office, which did not respond to a request for comment. Mail-in ballots postmarked on Election Day can be counted in Mississippi if received before 5 p.m. on November 10.
An unknown number of so-called affidavit ballots, also known as provisional ballots, are also pending. These were issued to voters who do not have proper identification or who are not on the list of registered voters.
Mikell Bolden, executive director of the Mississippi Democratic Party, said in a phone interview Wednesday that the party’s voter hotline received about 2,000 calls Tuesday from across the state, many from voters who were told they had to vote by affidavit.
Voters said they were sure they were registered to vote, Bolden said, but were told they were not on the voter list when they went to vote. And Bolden said those voters were unable to check their own registration status because the secretary of state’s website was down.
Bolden said the state party, the Colom campaign and the national party are working to contact voters via phone calls, text messages and robocalls to ensure those who have been affected return their ballots or resolve issues with their affidavit ballots, such as showing proper identification, by Tuesday, which would allow them to be counted.
“Everything is on the line right now for this state,” Bolden said.
And it will be a week-long scramble — county election officials must transmit election results to the secretary of state by Nov. 13.
Republicans are also signaling they are preparing for a legal battle.
Hyde-Smith campaign manager Jake Monssen said in a statement Wednesday that the campaign was “closely monitoring the remaining tally” and was confident she would prevail.
Joanna Rodriguez, spokesperson for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told NBC News in a statement: “As the democratic process continues to unfold, we are committed to ensuring that every legal ballot is counted accurately and the voices of all Mississippians are heard. »
Although the focus is on outstanding ballots, new questions also arise regarding a possible recount.
Ben Griffith, a voting rights and election law attorney who teaches at the University of Mississippi, told NBC News that options for Colom or Hyde-Smith to challenge the results were limited.
There is no mechanism for recounting an election under Mississippi state law. There is also no mechanism for contesting a general election in the U.S. Senate, per state law and the Mississippi Election Manual.
Candidates can challenge results on a county-by-county basis by filing their intentions with particular county clerks to “review” the contents of the county ballot box. But with 82 counties across the state and nine days until the survey is complete, “it’s beyond the scope of feasibility,” Griffith said.
There are opportunities for local election candidates statewide to challenge the results of some elections in the Legislature — but not in the U.S. Senate race.
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