Mississippi is still counting votes over a week after Election Day: What to know

Mississippi election officials are still counting ballots more than a week after Election Day, leaving one of the nation’s closest Senate races unresolved.Counties have until Friday to certify their results with the secretary of state’s office, meaning a clearer picture of the race could emerge by the end of the week. However, legal challenges could delay a final outcome.Here’s everything to know about where the race stands before the Friday deadline. Where does the vote stand? Democratic challenger Scott Colom, an attorney, held a lead of roughly 3,000 votes over Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) as of Wednesday morning, according to the Associated Press, which also reported that 98% of ballots have been counted.The race remains too close to call as of Wednesday morning, with outstanding absentee and provisional ballots determining whether Colom can pull off a historic upset in the reliably red state.Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson said Tuesday evening that 18,178 affidavit ballots, also known as provisional ballots, had been processed, although he did not specify how many were accepted. A provisional ballot is provided to voters at a polling location when they are ineligible to cast a regular ballot, such as when a name is missing from a voter registration database.Watson also reported that 76 of Mississippi’s 82 counties had updated at least some unofficial results, while just one has submitted official results.What’s next? Two key deadlines passed Tuesday as Mississippi continued counting ballots. Voters had until Tuesday to verify their provisional ballots, while mail-in absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day had to arrive at election offices by 5 p.m. Tuesday to be counted.Watson said Tuesday afternoon that 2,323 mail-in absentee ballots remained outstanding. Counties were also continuing to process provisional ballots that had been verified by the deadline.Mississippi is among a small number of states with no provision in state law for recounts. Neither an automatic recount nor one requested by a candidate is permitted, although candidates can challenge election results in court. Other states, including Illinois and Tennessee, allow recounts under certain circumstances, including legal challenges.The National Republican Senatorial Committee sent a letter Thursday demanding that election commissioners and circuit clerks “separate and preserve all affidavit ballots,” signaling Republicans’ preparations for a legal fight over the outcome.The prospect of a recount or election challenge, however, does not necessarily mean the result would change. Such challenges rarely reverse election outcomes. Of the 7,437 statewide general elections held between 2000 and 2025, just 37 underwent complete statewide recounts, and only three resulted in a different winner, according to a FairVote report. In each of those cases, the original margin of victory was less than 0.06%.Federal intervention could also be a possibility. The Constitution grants the Senate authority under Article I, Section 5, to judge the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members, providing another avenue for scrutiny of a contested Senate race.What are the candidates saying? Both candidates have projected confidence as the remaining ballots are counted, while their campaigns have begun preparing for disputes.Hyde-Smith’s campaign said last week that “thousands of votes remain to be counted from dozens of Republican counties” and expressed confidence that the outstanding ballots would secure her reelection to a seat she has held since 2018.Colom, meanwhile, pointed to what he described as “historic voter turnout” and said he remained “confident that when votes are counted, we will flip this seat.” If elected, he would become the first black U.S. senator elected in Mississippi since 1874.The Democrat has also warned that his campaign has “an army of lawyers” prepared to respond to any disputes. The Mississippi Republican Party, for its part, said it had deployed more than 50 volunteers, attorneys, and election observers across the state.Attorneys representing both campaigns have sent letters to election officials regarding the handling of outstanding provisional ballots. Hyde-Smith’s lawyers have asked all 82 counties to keep provisional ballots separate from regular and absentee ballots.Colom also took aim Monday at national election forecasters who rated the race heavily in Hyde-Smith’s favor for much of the campaign, singling out the Cook Political Report.“At some point, we have to talk about … ‘prognosticators’ who had me and other southern candidates labeled as solid R for much of the campaign cycle,” Colom wrote on social media.He argued that those ratings made fundraising more difficult and contributed to what he described as the national Democratic Party’s neglect of Southern candidates.Trump says deportation policy ‘too tough’ in push for bipartisan deal handing legal status to ‘good’ illegal immigrants“They’re only a reflection of the past and mysteriously avoid any accountability when they’re wrong,” he wrote.The Mississippi contest remains one of the outstanding Senate races following the midterm elections, in which Democrats won control of both the Senate and House. The Alaska Senate race also remains uncalled.