Thousands of voters in Mississippi Senate race are trying to make their ballots count after state’s voter roll changes

Key Points:

• Thousands of Mississippi voters, including Andrew Couch, were forced to cast provisional (affidavit) ballots due to discrepancies in voter rolls, such as outdated addresses or missing names in poll books, raising concerns about voter disenfranchisement in a tight Senate race.
• Mississippi election officials used commercially available credit data from Experian to identify voters who may have moved, a practice criticized for potentially inaccurate results in a state with many unbanked residents, leading to a surge in inactive voters excluded from poll books.
• As of Monday, over 15,000 affidavit ballots had been processed with about 76% accepted, while election officials have until Friday to certify results; the handling of these provisional ballots could influence the outcome between Democrat Scott Colom and Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith.
• Voting rights advocates argue that purging or marking voters inactive after registration undermines participation and may cause "voter fatigue," discouraging future turnout, as voters face confusion and obstacles in confirming their ballots count.
• Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson defends the use of voter roll maintenance and affidavit ballots as necessary for election security and accuracy, emphasizing efforts to prevent fraud despite criticism from civil rights groups and experts.