Mississippi Organizers Fight to Count 20,000 Affidavit Ballots in Senate Race Decided by 2,500 Votes
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Nov 8
Mississippi Organizers Fight to Count 20,000 Affidavit Ballots in Senate Race Decided by 2,500 Votes
3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Nov 8
Summary
As many as 20,000 affidavit ballots are under review in Mississippi’s too-close-to-call Senate race, where Scott Colom led by about 2,000 votes after earlier margins of roughly 2,500.
In Holmes County, organizer Kameisha Smith and young canvassers spent days calling voters, driving them to clerk’s offices and sitting through ballot reviews to fix ID, address and registration problems before deadlines expired.
That push followed a turnout surge in the heavily Black Delta: Holmes County’s participation reached an expected 58%, up 16 points from 2018, after canvassers registered 283 new voters and targeted infrequent voters.
The ballot fight also exposed how easily votes can be lost — from voter-roll purges to late-mailed registration forms — in a state where Colom is trying to become the first Black statewide officeholder since Reconstruction.
How did a small team of young volunteers successfully rescue hundreds of rejected ballots in rural Mississippi?
Could strict election regulations unintentionally ignite a powerful new wave of local grassroots organizing?
Mississippi 2026 Senate Race: 1,800-Vote Margin, 20,000 Provisional Ballots, and a Historic Test of Voting Rights
Overview
The 2026 Mississippi U.S. Senate race remains uncalled, with Democrat Scott Colom narrowly leading Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith. This close contest is rooted in a controversial 2024 decision to use unverified Experian data to clean voter rolls, which led to over 230,000 voters being marked inactive. On Election Day, thousands of eligible voters found their names missing, resulting in up to 20,000 provisional ballots and widespread frustration. With thousands of ballots still uncounted and no legal recount option, both campaigns are locked in legal battles amid inconsistent county procedures. The situation has sparked urgent calls for election reform and national debate over voter roll maintenance.