Mississippi Senate Race Still Undecided as Affidavit-Ballot Cure and Mail-Ballot Deadlines Both Fall on November 10
Mississippi’s U.S. Senate race remained undecided a week after Election Day, with two key deadlines falling on November 10. According to the Associated Press count, Democratic challenger Scott Colom, a district attorney, leads Republican incumbent Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith by 467,930 votes to 465,356 — a margin of 2,574 votes, with both candidates at about 49 percent and independent candidate Ty Pinkins at just over 2 percent. Five p.m. on November 10 was the last deadline both for voters who lacked identification to present ID so their affidavit ballots would count, and for mail-in absentee ballots to arrive; ballots had to be postmarked before the November 3 election. Secretary of State Michael Watson said on the evening of November 10 that 15,547 affidavit ballots had been processed, about 76 percent of them accepted, with 2,578 absentee ballots still outstanding, and 75 of the state’s 82 counties had updated partial unofficial results. Counties must certify by Friday, November 13, and statewide final results will be released December 3. The count has also raised questions about voter-roll maintenance: Mississippi Today reported that the state’s list maintenance placed more than 230,000 voters — about one in nine — in inactive status, and many voters were told at polling places that they were registered in counties where they had not lived for years. The Hyde-Smith campaign has written to counties asking that ballots and records be preserved for a possible recount or litigation.
Source: Associated Press
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 密西西比州议会大厦。（经 Wikimedia Commons，CC 授权）
