MS court clerk updates tight Senate vote as critical deadlines approach

Mississippi's Senate race. still counting and still not called. Right now, the Democrat in the Race. Scott column. is ahead of Republican incumbent. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith. by 2500 plus votes. This morning, Mississippi. Secretary of State. says that roughly 2800 absentee. mail in ballots are still out. and on their way in. Possibly. There are also some key deadlines. looming here. to keep an eye on for this week. Tomorrow is the deadline. for voters to resolve. any issues. on the state's on state.

provisional ballots. It's also the deadline for counties. to receive absentee ballots. that were postmarked on or before, Election Day, and counties. also must certify their results. by November 13th, which is this Friday. CNN's Annie Greer is in Jackson, Mississippi, has been on the ground. doing a lot of important. reporting for us. What are you hearing now. about where things stand in this moment. and when there could be an actual result?

Well, good morning, Kate. We're here in the building. where voters in Hinds. County will go to fix. any ballot issues. that they need to bring in their voter. photo ID. if they need to fix. any identification issues. with their provisional ballots. This is the building. that they will head to. And we watched the count. come in over the weekend very slowly. There are still a lot. of provisional ballots. left to be counted. Some have predicted somewhere. between 15. and 20,000. provisional ballots, and in the state of Mississippi, this is called affidavit ballots.

And they could be the ball. game in the Senate race. that is still too close to call. Now, Democrat. Scott Collum. says he's increasingly confident. that as more votes come in, that his lead will only increase. We have not seen Republican Senator. Cindy Hyde-Smith. since being in Mississippi, where his column is held. at least eight events since Election Day, talking to voters. And yesterday. I went to Cindy Hyde-Smith s hometown. to talk to Republicans. to get a sense. for what they think happened here. in Mississippi. that is now on the precipice. for the first time, flipping.

blue in many, many years to listen to one voter. who talked about. how Democrats really focused. on their ground game. and got a lot of energy. from voters out of it. This was. this was definitely the Democrats. did something right. And, they had some good, good candidates. I think a lot of the. Republican commentary. that I've seen have said that, you know, we've got to do a better job. and long range planning our,

who our candidates are going to be. The Democrats did a really good job. The Democratic Party did a good job, and they got candidates out there, and they got the people excited. And, you don't see movements like that. If the work wouldn't put in. Now, as we are. waiting for this vote to come. in, both sides are preparing. for a legal battle. Republicans have deployed. 50 lawyers across the state. Democrats have sent in resources. from all over the country to be here. in case a legal battle ensues.

But it's really. an unprecedented situation that we are. And this is a state. that President Trump carried. by nearly 23 points just two years ago. Democrats have not sent a Democrat. to the U.S. Senate in nearly four decades, and we will be watching this vote. count in very, very closely as this race still remains. too close to call. Annie, thank you so much for being there. We continue to watch it. John. All right. With us. now, the former chief. strategist for Mitt Romney's. presidential campaign, Stuart Stevens, who also worked for George W Bush. and who also happens to be,

if memory serves. a child of Yazoo County, Mississippi. So, you know a little. something about Mississippi, Stuart, how do you explain, the fact that Scott column is poised. we don't know for sure yet, but could very well be the next senator. from the state of Mississippi. Well, John, I've actually from Hinds County, where that courthouse was, and I spent a good bit of my life. in that courthouse. while I was here and count ballots. And they do a very good job. Look, I think, you know, Ole Miss played Georgia Saturday night, and at the half.

it was 24 to nothing Georgia. And the game wasn't technically over, but everybody knew it was over. And I think that's where we are now. Scott is going to win this race. by more than 5000 votes. Look, you know, Cindy Hyde-Smith was a. sort of an accidental candidate. She was appointed, governor Phil Bryant, is a graduate of University. of Southern Mississippi. All the senators from Mississippi. and Ole Miss, a Mississippi state. He wanted a southern grad and he got one. And Cindy Hyde-Smith, she's been sort of a ghost. on Capitol Hill.

So I think you had. this confluence of circumstances. and all these races. I did down in Mississippi. For Republicans, it was always harder than people realize. because depending. on African-American turnout, you had Republicans say you got 7%. of the African-American turnout, which is pretty much what you got. You really need to get 65 to 70%. of the white vote. And that's never easy. And I think what's going. to happen here is that, turnout. Smith is going to get closer to 68%.

There's 25,000 votes out there. that look like they voted. for Republican candidates and voted for, for, for Scott. And, you know, just hearing that, gentlemen. talk about the difference. in quality of candidates. It's just college for a great candidate, from a great family. with a history in Mississippi. And Sidney Smith is just. doesn't seem to be enjoying this. My apologies to Hinds County. I misdirected your hometown, Stuart. I do appreciate that. And do thank you for the education.

on Mississippi politics there. I think that's really informative. Here now is the circuit. clerk of the heavily Republican leaning. county of Georgia County, Mississippi, Chad Welford. He serves. as the Registrar of voters. and issues on all absentee ballots. Mr. Walford, thank you so much. for joining us. So counties must certify their results. by Friday. The Secretary of State says. 75 of 82. counties in your state. have uploaded their. unofficial election results. Where do things. stand in your county right now, and do you expect we'll. know the winner this week?

I do, we've uploaded all our results. Except the, few that are coming in by mail or the. I days that have five days. to perfect their affidavit ballots. But we expect to have that, in George County resolved Thursday. morning early. because the deadline to present them. is Tuesday at 5:00. So tell us more about the, affidavit process. and why they're so critical.

I mean, a lot of people call them. provisional ballots in Mississippi. They're considered affidavit ballots. Tell us more about that. and the kind of response. you're getting in terms of people. carrying their ballots, because these are really the ballots. that could make the difference. It is. So, you know, the Lake. commissioners take those ballots, it was cast by affidavit, and they have to look at each one of them. individually to make sure. that they voted in the correct precinct. They're eligible voter. under Mississippi law. And at that point in time,

they can accept or reject that ballot. That doesn't mean. they're counted at that moment, but their accept or reject. or put into a stack. so that we can count them when. the process is finished. Mississippi Secretary. of State said, go ahead. And, you know, we're. we're very cautious. throughout Mississippi. to elect commissioners. that start. to make sure that we research each one, you know, very well to make sure. that we give credit to those voters. who are eligible to cast a ballot.

because we want. every vote. counted is under article all eligible. So Mississippi's. secretary of state said yesterday. that about 77% of the provisional. ballots have been accepted. Both parties, as you well know, are gearing up for a legal battle over. how those are counted. How is your office preparing. for any possible legal challenges? We are under the same process. where for every election, you know, we we count our ballots. We do a good job. The commissioners work tirelessly. Our poll workers work tirelessly.

We sell everything. We keep everything in order. So if a lawsuit filed in George County. and I would say. most every county. and state of Mississippi. that we've, we've got the ballots. secured, we keep them locked and, we don't look forward. to the legal battle, but we're ready. if they want to check our ballots. Election officials say they've rejected. more than 200 provisional ballots. cast by students. at Jackson. State University. because either the student.

wasn't registered to vote. or went to the wrong precinct. Mississippi Gulf Coast. community colleges in your county. Have you seen any similar issues? Our county, is very small. in the junior college atmosphere. I have not seen any of that level. But there is people that I know. moved to Georgia County. and never registered to vote. that cast a ballot. And unfortunately, those ballots won't count. because they're not a registered voter. in George County, 30 days prior to the election,

you have people that have. went and got an I.D. from another county. for whatever reason, and they registered under. that county's address. Unfortunately, when you do that, that ballot won't count. because they're not. a resident of George County. You get the majority of our ballot. affidavit are counted. I'd probably say 75, 66, 75% of our affidavit ballots are counted. You are very familiar.

with Mississippi politics. This is an extremely close. race in a deep red state. Why do you think this. race is so competitive? Well, I think that the Democratic Party. has got column ran a really good race. And that gives them. some advantage points there. I think that the, current. gas prices and economic times. probably swayed a small portion of voters.

that are. independent up the line between Democrat. And when you take a, a race. that everybody knew. was going to be tight to start with. those few votes, there is where we're looking at that. that's put you, a couple thousand votes ahead. And I think that's where. Scott, Fayette and, I think that's probably the trend. It'll it'll stay from here on out. In my personal opinion. You think he. you think. he will end up being the winner? I think so. most most times affidavit ballots,

absentee ballots, they all. follow the same path. as Election day ballots. I know in our affidavit ballot count, it was almost the exact same percentages. as the election Day ballots cast. And I think that have followed. for the most part. throughout the other counties. as I process these affidavit ballots, because when I process them, they don't open the ballot securely. They voted for it. They're just looking at the facts. And once they determine, accept or rejected, then they go to a process.

of being counted. So you can't tell. who people are voting for. You're totally relying on the facts. of that individual voter. And if he eligible to cast a ballot. Before we let you go, I wanted to. just get your reaction to this. I think that's really important. given your position. and the elections there in Mississippi. Just this morning, President Trump. posted this on a. social media account, quote, does anybody really believe. this election was honest? How could the polls be so wrong? He goes on to say, quote, it's all about the machines, which are far more important.

than the voter. What is your response to that, especially as your state. is still counting? You know, in George County. and I can speak for George. County personally. We didn't have lines. We had enough equipment. and enough ballots. for the voters to vote. Maybe eight minutes. Nine minutes would probably be a long. wait in George County. I know there's other counties. that longer lines. I think that the, turnout was more than, maybe some predicted,

maybe not. enough machines there. But we learned from every election, and we look forward. to moving to the next one. and being better. And I tell you know, all my poll workers, every election, you should be better than. election before. But what do you think about, casting. doubts about the election results? I mean, you have a front row seat to it. There. I know all the election commissioners. and circuit clerks and deputy clerks. and State of Mississippi observers,

our residents association, and I truly believe. that our ballots are cast legally. I think it's done professionally. And I think the when the capital. is announced, we'll have a winner. And I truly believe. that is the. will of the people of Mississippi. that that cast ballots. Chad Welford, thank you. so much for coming on the show. We appreciate it. Joining me right now. for a sense of what's happening on. the ground is Ashton Pittman. He's the news editor.

for the Mississippi Free Press. Ashton, thanks for jumping on. What is the latest, you know, on the ground in Mississippi? What are you hearing from officials? What are you hearing from voters? So we're hearing from officials that, there are, just under 3000 absentee. mail ballots, still out. That could still come in. within the five day window, and be counted. We're also, you know, hearing a lot from, from voters, who have, you know, who had to vote affidavit,

which means they had to cast, what's known in other states. as a provisional ballot because of, being listed as inactive. Whether because of an address issue or. because they didn't. have a voter ID on it. at the time of going to the polls. We also know that counties. are coming to different paces. We have some counties. that had their affidavit. ballots counted last week. And we have some that are still counting. and have not released a single number. Hinds County, the largest county, which is where. the capital city of Jackson is.

still has not, released any numbers. from their affidavit ballots. And we're expecting thousands. to come in from Hinds County, which is one that heavily favors schools. So that's definitely something we keep. keep going on. What is the talk right now. around any possible challenges. to the eventual outcome? Yeah. So far there. There's just. there's you know, people have kind of gestured. at that possibility. But there's there have not been any, you know, really definitive statements.

that we are going to challenge. that there's just kind of generally, you know, we had the, the city has kicked off campaign, you know, kind of, you know, talked about, kind of referenced the idea of, you know, we're going to stuff like, you know, all legally cast ballots. We want to make sure. all legally cast ballots are counted. So there's been some gesturing. at the idea, but there is no solid, you know, we're going to sue for, you know, this particular reason, there have been concerns over, over, Hyde-Smith and the Republicans,

you know, pushing, election commissioners to, retain, their, provisional ballots, which is affidavit ballots. There's concern that. because affidavit ballots. have the name of the voter on them, which is the point of. that is to be able to verify. that they're indeed a voter. and it's a legal ballot. There's concern that, you know, asking them to retain. that could expose these ballots to, to potentially, you know, being able to identify who, you know, who specifically voted for a candidate. So there are concerns about that.

I know Blake has raised concerns, but there's no there's been no specific, you know, threat of a legal challenge. so far. Yeah. Progress definitely being made. But there's still a lot up in the air. right now. It is good. And how this is all going to shake out. Ashton, thank you so much for coming on.