Mississippi U.S. Senate race remains undecided as ballots continue to be processed

Voters now await the processing of determine who will win this race. 

At the Rankin County Election Commission’s Office, election officials and volunteers processed affidavit ballots from election night into the following day. Tonya Rivers, the election commissioner for District Three, said Rankin County saw a higher number of affidavit ballots submitted than in previous years.  

“The affidavits, we have 1,667, if I'm not mistaken. That is for the entire county of Rankin. And we started processing last night around 10 o'clock, and we are still at it,” Rivers said. 

She explained that the county has 10 business days to process and submit affidavit ballots, which includes calling any voters who still need to confirm through photo ID so that their vote can be counted.  

“We have ten days to process everything. We are going to work non-stop as much as possible,” Rivers said. “We are hoping to have everything processed and be waiting for that day five so we can certify then.” 

Rivers said the process is lengthy and asked residents to have patience while they work through all the ballots. She also encouraged voters to continue to keep their voter information updated when possible to make future voting processes fast and easy for all sides. 

“We still encourage y'all [voters] to continue checking your own voter registration. It is ultimately our responsibility, but voters do have a responsibility of their own to make sure that it stays in good standing, that everything is current. So we encourage ya’ll to stay on top of that,” Rivers said. 

Working alongside Rivers were several members of the Rankin County NAACP. Angela English, the branch president, said the most important thing is to make sure all votes are counted accurately, even if it takes longer to do so. 

“We don't want them to hurry and throw away any ballots that are valid. So take your time, count every one of those that are countable, and make sure that the best person wins. And that no voters are disenfranchised,” English said.  

She said that because so many voters used affidavit ballots, it’s also up to poll managers to make sure that residents properly filled out information before submitting their vote. If information on an affidavit ballot is incorrect or incomplete, that vote does not count, and there is no option to redo after Election Day. 

“Making sure that it gets done accurately because that is what allows the vote to be counted. I don't care how long it takes,” English said. “They should make sure that everything that that voter needs to have on that affidavit ballot is there.” 

In Hinds County, election commissioners began processing affidavit ballots on the afternoon after Election Day. Polling machines and ballot boxes sit in a warehouse in Jackson, waiting to be processed.  

Yvonne Horton, election commissioner for District Four in Hinds County said she saw fewer affidavit ballots than in previous years. Horton said in her precinct, there were a little over 100 affidavit ballots. Other districts may have higher numbers, but a total number for the entire county was not given.  

Horton’s message to residents was also to make sure anyone who voted by affidavit verified with a photo ID at their circuit court so that their vote is counted.  

“If anyone voted because and did not have a proper ID, those will go to Circuit Court, Zack Wallace's office. And they have five business days to bring their acceptable form of ID. If not, those are automatically not counted, not open or anything, and that's the reason,” Horton said.  

District One Election Commissioner Kidada Brown echoed the statement of Tonya Rivers, asking residents to have patience while waiting for election results. 

“Give us a chance, because this is going to be a long process. So just give us some grace, give us some patience, and we're about to start working. We're about stop pulling and doing what we need to do,” Brown said.  

Mississippians can follow election results on MPB’s Election Results website.