Mississippi Senate race heads to an extended vote count and possible ballot battle

Mississippi's U. S. Senate contest remains undecided, with Democrat Scott Colom ahead of Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith by only 65 votes as counting continues. Democrats have already secured a Senate majority elsewhere, but a Colom win would be their most conservative-state pickup, adding to Southern gains in Texas and South Carolina, according to NBC News.

The outcome hinges on ballots not yet tallied. Mail ballots postmarked by Election Day count if they arrive by 5 p. m. on Nov. 10, and state data suggest about 6,000 were sent out but not returned as of Monday. An unspecified number of affidavit ballots, issued to people lacking proper ID or missing from voter rolls, are also pending. Mikell Bolden, executive director of the Mississippi Democratic Party, said roughly 2,000 callers to its hotline reported being turned away from the rolls, and that the secretary of state's website outage kept them from checking their status. Democrats are contacting those voters so problems are fixed by Tuesday.

Both parties are preparing for litigation. Colom said he has an army of lawyers, and the Hyde-Smith and Republican Senate committee teams pledged to watch the count.

Summarized by PolitiKool from NBC News’s reporting. Read the full story at NBC News →