Down about 1,900 votes, Hyde-Smith tries to change the count. Elias Law Group says no.
Colom would be the first Black senator Mississippi voters ever chose at the ballot box.
Democrat Scott Colom has Elias Law Group in his corner as Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith tries to change how Mississippi counties handle the ballots that could decide their Senate race. In a letter to all 82 counties Thursday night, Colom's lawyers called her demand "unlawful and extraordinary" and warned that following it would "violate Mississippi voters' rights and Mississippi election law."
Colom led Hyde-Smith by just over 1,900 votes Friday morning, according to CBS News. The race has not been called. Mississippi has no formal recount process, ABC News reported. Voters who cast affidavit ballots without photo ID have until Nov. 10 to show it, and counties must certify by Nov. 13.
What Hyde-Smith demanded
On Thursday, lawyers from Lex Politica, representing the Hyde-Smith campaign and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told every county to "maintain all affidavit ballots separately from regular and absentee ballots," WLBT reported. Affidavit ballots are Mississippi's provisional ballots. They're cast by voters who didn't have photo ID or weren't listed in the poll book. In Hinds County alone, one commissioner was working through 233 of them from Jackson State University students, CNN reported.
The letter said the steps were needed so "each affidavit ballot's eligibility for counting and ultimate disposition can be verified," according to The Hill. It also claimed "Candidate Hyde-Smith is entitled to their preservation in an unaltered and identifiable state," WLOX reported. Federal law already requires election records in federal races to be kept for 22 months.
What Colom's lawyers fired back
"Hyde-Smith cites no legal authority whatsoever," wrote Elias Law Group attorney Jacquelyn Lopez. "That is because there is no legal authority for that demand."
Lopez argued that pulling accepted ballots out of the pile would threaten the secret ballot, "raising the danger that a voter's identity could be linked to their ballot." She also turned Bush v. Gore against the Republicans. Many counties already finished counting the normal way, so changing the rules now in only some counties would treat voters unequally. She also pointed out that Mississippi law doesn't allow an election contest in a federal race, which knocks out the ballot-box statute Hyde-Smith cited.
Her bottom line to county officials: "Do not segregate accepted affidavit ballots from other paper ballots. And certainly do not do anything that would allow a particular ballot to be traced to a particular voter."
Colom's campaign called the NRSC letter a "desperate stunt." Hyde-Smith said on X that thousands of votes are still out in Republican counties.
Who's backing Colom
Marc Elias is copied on the letter and has said his firm is leading Colom's legal effort, according to the Mississippi Free Press. After the 2020 election, Elias led the response to Trump's lawsuits to overturn the results and won 64 of 65 cases.
The history on the line
Mississippi hasn't sent a Democrat to the Senate since 1982, when voters reelected segregationist John Stennis. If Colom wins, he'll be the state's first Black senator since Blanche K. Bruce left office in 1881. He'll also be the first Black senator Mississippi voters ever chose at the ballot box, The American Prospect noted. During Reconstruction, the state legislature picked both Bruce and Hiram Revels.
Colom and Hyde-Smith have history too. In 2023, she blocked his nomination to the federal bench, pointing to George Soros money given to a PAC that backed his 2015 race for district attorney. In 2018, running against Black Democrat Mike Espy, she was caught on video saying she'd be "on the front row" at "a public hanging." Mississippi has more recorded lynchings than any other state, the Mississippi Free Press reported.
What's next
Counties keep counting affidavit and mail ballots through next week. Democrats have already clinched the Senate, and a Colom win would add a 55th seat. The voters with the most at stake right now cast affidavit ballots, including college students. Those are the votes Hyde-Smith wants set apart from everyone else's.
Sources
- Colom campaign calls Hyde-Smith's affidavit ballot separation, preservation demand 'unlawful attack on voter privacy', WLOX
- Representatives of Cindy Hyde-Smith send letter to counties, demanding preservation of all affidavit ballots, WLBT
- Senate GOP's campaign arm demands Mississippi election officials preserve affidavit ballots, The Hill
- Mississippi Senate race still a toss-up, with razor-thin margin, CBS News
- The fight is growing over ballot counting in Mississippi's tight Senate race, CNN
- What to know about recounts in Mississippi with razor-thin margin in Senate race, ABC News
- Liveblog: Mississippi's 2026 U.S. Senate Election Results, Mississippi Free Press
- Hyde-Smith's 'public hanging' quip bombs in state with most lynchings, Mississippi Free Press
- Mississippi October surprise, The American Prospect
- Letter from Jacquelyn Lopez, Elias Law Group, counsel to Scott Colom for Senate, to Mississippi's 82 counties, Nov. 5, 2026
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