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

The Mississippi Senate race may take days to resolve, as Democrat Scott Colom leads GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by just 65 votes in the current vote count.

And as votes continue to be counted, all eyes are on an unknown number of ballots that could shift the result — and lead to a very murky recount process.

Mississippi has not been a site of close vote counts and postelection drama in recent years. But Colom’s strong showing comes as Democrats swept several Senate races in red states across the country. While Democrats have a Senate majority without flipping Mississippi, it could be their reddest pickup.

And it would be another victory in a string of wins in the South, including in Texas and South Carolina, after years of struggle for Democrats.

National operatives are descending on the state, with staff members from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Elias Law Group on the ground Wednesday to lead the Democratic effort to ensure votes are counted, according to a source familiar with the effort, who was granted anonymity to discuss legal strategy.

A partner with the Elias Law Group, which has served as the Colom campaign’s lawyers, told NBC News…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business