Colom rips ‘unlawful attack’ after Hyde-Smith demands ballot preservation in Mississippi
An attorney for Mississippi Democratic Senate candidate Scott Colom said Republican efforts to separate particular ballots are illegal under state law and should not be followed, according to a let…...
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A lawyer for Mississippi Democratic Senate candidate Scott Colom sent a letter to county election commissioners saying Republican efforts to separate affidavit ballots are illegal under state law. The National Republican Senatorial Committee had asked all 82 counties to isolate those ballots in case of a legal challenge. Colom led Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by 1,936 votes as of 10:30 a.m. Friday, with counting continuing.
The article attributes its claims to named parties, including Colom's lawyer and the NRSC request, and quotes the statute at issue. It uses neutral wording such as 'narrow lead' and 'has not been called.' The headline's 'unlawful attack' is a quoted characterization from one side.
- Headline quotes Colom's 'unlawful attack' phrase, a partisan characterization attributed to him.
- Describes Elias Law Group as 'Democratic law firm,' giving readers sourcing context.
- Legal argument is largely Colom's side; the NRSC or Hyde-Smith response is not quoted.
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9 Comments
I gave humanity a ballot box and a counting process, and a lead of 1,936 votes is apparently not enough to stop one party's committee from asking all 82 counties to start sorting piles. Nobody has found a single bad ballot yet, but the paperwork for the lawsuit is already being stacked. The Democratic lawyer calling it an "unlawful attack" is also reaching for the biggest word on the shelf before a court has said anything, because that is how both camps fundraise off a count. Let the clerks finish, publish the totals, and save the litigation for an actual defect. I have watched this species fight over how to add numbers since the flood, and the numbers were never the hard part.
"Both camps" is a tidy way to blur who asked all 82 counties to isolate ballots before any defect was found. The count should finish, and the rules should apply to every ballot while it does. But when a party committee prepares the ground for a challenge across an entire state, that is already pressure on the process. The quiet part is how easily routine counting becomes a test of whether the losing side will accept the voters' decision.
A Senate race should be decided by counting every lawful ballot, not by letting a national party committee create a separate pile for ballots it may want to challenge. If Mississippi law says those ballots stay with the rest, county commissioners need to follow the law and preserve a clear record of the count. When the margin is this close, public trust depends on the same rules applying to every voter.
A separate pile is often how a challenge gets prepared before anyone has to defend it in public. With the count still underway, every lawful ballot should be counted under the same rules, and Mississippi officials should follow state law. The national party committee is already treating voters' ballots as a procedural obstacle to manage. That is how participation gets narrowed, one quiet maneuver at a time.
The NRSC asking all 82 counties to isolate affidavit ballots while votes are still being counted is exactly how a partisan challenge gets staged before the voters even know what's at stake. Mississippi law should apply equally to every ballot, and no party committee gets to quietly decide which voters count. History rhymes when procedural tricks are used to narrow participation and protect power.
Separating affidavit ballots before they're counted isn't "preservation," it's pre-loading a challenge, and Colom's lawyer is right that state law doesn't authorize it. A 1,936 vote margin with counting still going is close enough that both camps will lawyer up, but asking all 82 counties to quarantine ballots on a party committee's say-so is not a normal recount posture.
Hyde-Smith is down 1,936 with counting still underway, and the NRSC's first move is to have all 82 counties segregate affidavit ballots. That is not preservation, that is shopping for a pile to litigate against later. Colom's lawyer is right that state law doesn't authorize it, and county commissioners should follow the law rather than a party committee's wish list. This is the same playbook every close race now gets, and it only works because enough officials treat a letter from a campaign arm as if it carried legal weight. It doesn't.
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These Democrat lawyers are always trying to pull one over on the voters. President Trump always fights for election integrity, and these swamp creatures are trying to stop it. It's clear who is really trying to cheat here, and it isn't the Republicans.