The Republican Party is demanding that Mississippi election officials “separate and preserve” all provisional ballots cast in the midterms — the first step in a likely bid to throw out votes in the state’s extremely close U.S. Senate race*.
The vote count is ongoing, and Democrat Scott Colom currently leads Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith ® by several hundred votes, with certification due by Nov. 13. His victory would represent a significant upset in the state’s Republican-dominated politics.
Unfortunately they’re specifically going after the provisional ballots because that’s what’s widening Colom’s lead so late. So that probably wouldn’t happen
provisional ballots are the ones that get the most scrutiny before being included in the tally, too.
And aren’t provisional ballots supposed to be included in the event the race is within 100 votes or something similar? I’m sure it varies state to state but that’s what I remember of their purpose.