Amid razor-thin Mississippi Senate battle, concerns raised over voter challenges
Summary
Democrat Scott Colom held a narrow lead over Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi’s uncalled Senate race, where thousands of provisional “affidavit” ballots could affect the outcome. Voting rights advocates have raised concerns that faulty data contributed to eligible voters being removed from registration lists, while state officials said a reported figure of 230,000 deactivations was cumulative rather than limited to 2026.Key Facts
- Mississippi affidavit ballots let voters cast provisional ballots if they lack voter ID or are not listed as registered at their polling place.
- Lawyers for Colom and Hyde-Smith were preparing for a possible legal dispute over which affidavit ballots should count.
- Hinds County, which includes Jackson and is heavily Democratic, finished processing affidavit ballots on Nov. 11.
- Mississippi officials began using data from credit-reporting company Experian in 2025 as a supplemental tool for maintaining voter rolls.
- Experian said its data was not designed to validate voter records and that election officials alone make decisions about voter registration.
- Local reports and a voting advocacy group estimated that 230,000 voters had been deactivated from Mississippi’s registration lists ahead of the 2026 midterms.
- The Mississippi Secretary of State’s office said the 230,000 figure was cumulative and did not represent voters deactivated in 2026 alone.
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