Lawyers descend on Mississippi as vote counting continues in razor-thin Senate race

In a razor-thin Mississippi Senate race, the state's voter rolls have come under scrutiny following a controversial cleanup. Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democrat Scott Colom are locked in a close contest, with Colom leading by just over 2,000 votes as of Friday afternoon. The race has exposed concerns about the reliability of third-party data used to determine voter residency and the maintenance of voter rolls.

As of the midterms, over 230,000 Mississippians were listed as inactive, a significant increase from roughly 166,000 in the 2024 election, according to federal data. These inactive voters were required to cast affidavit ballots on Election Day, slowing vote counting and ultimately determining the winner. The surge in inactive registrations began after the March primaries, coinciding with the state's agreement with Experian, a credit reporting company, to help verify voter addresses.

Critics argue that relying on Experian's data could lead to erroneous voter status changes. Thessalia Merivaki, an elections research expert, expressed concerns about the reliability of these data brokers and their potential to place eligible voters on an inactive status. She questioned whether using these data brokers had resulted in incorrect voter status changes.

The Experian contract ended in early 2025, but it's unclear how many of the newly inactive registrations are due to this data. Experian spokesperson stated that the company has not provided services to Mississippi since early 2025. The state of Mississippi later switched to using IDI Data and U.S. Postal Service records for voter registration.

Despite the controversy, Mississippi's Secretary of State Michael Watson defended the state's system, emphasizing the importance of cleaner voter rolls for election integrity. However, concerns remain about the accuracy and reliability of the voter data used in the state's election process.