Thousands of voters in Mississippi Senate race are trying to make their ballots count after state’s voter roll changes

By Annie Grayer, Fredreka Schouten, CNN

Jackson, Mississippi (CNN) — Andrew Couch had voted at the same polling location in the last two elections. But when he arrived at his polling place on Election Day, he was told he was registered in a different county that he hadn’t lived in for six years.

“I couldn’t believe that,” Couch told CNN. “That was such an old address. I’ve lived at so many other addresses since then.”

He filled out a provisional ballot that night and, in the days since, has taken steps to try to fix the issue and understand what went wrong. But on Monday, he was told his vote will not count.

“I’m very upset,” Couch said. “I’ve been participating in his process for many years as an adult. I’ve been teaching my kids to participate as well. So, if people lose faith in the process that we’re going through, I think it’s going to hurt voter turnout in general in the future.”

In a Senate race that is still too close to call, Mississippi state election officials are facing intense scrutiny over their methods for maintaining voter rolls after thousands of voters like Couch cast provisional ballots because they were not included in precinct poll books or did not have appropriate photo identification.

Whether those ballots are ultimately counted could determine the outcome of a contest where Democrat Scott Colom is narrowly leading Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. But the fight over provisional ballots – known as affidavit ballots in Mississippi – is indicative of how Republicans at the federal and state level have zeroed in on voter rolls, in some cases disqualifying voters with scant notice.

Election officials in Mississippi made waves last year when they began using commercially available credit data to identify voters who may have moved as part of voter list maintenance.

Critics of the use of the credit data, which they argue may not be reliable in a state where many residents don’t have bank accounts, say they believe it contributed to a surge in voters deemed inactive and then excluded from poll books. Those voters then were required to vote via provisional ballots if they showed up on Election Day.

Tuesday is the deadline for voters who cast provisional ballots because they did not have proper identification to provide the needed documentation to election officials. In interviews with CNN, several county election officials said that voter ID issues accounted for a relatively small share of provisional ballots they issued.

County election officials have until Friday to vet and count all provisional ballots and certify their county-level results. The state certification deadline is December 3.

It’s not clear how many Mississippians have voted via provisional ballot. Both camps in the Senate race have said thousands of voters were affected, either because their names were missing in poll books or they lacked adequate identification.

Mississippi’s Secretary of State Michael Watson, a Republican, said in a statement to CNN that state officials have “implemented every available resource to ensure our elections are secure, and to ensure we do not have dead people, illegal aliens with fake addresses, or nonresidents voting in our elections.”

He said the affidavit ballot process “is a safety net for errors election commissioners make during voter roll maintenance.”

“It may take voters a little longer for final results to come in, but more accurate voter lists will speed up the process and decrease opportunities for voter fraud in Mississippi. And in the end, accuracy and integrity will be maintained,” he added.

As of Monday evening, Watson said 15,547 affidavit ballots had been processed with roughly 76% of them accepted. Another 2,578 absentee ballots were still outstanding.

Voting rights advocates accused Mississippi of disenfranchising legitimate voters.

“Once you have done the act of registering to vote, which is your constitutional right, then there shouldn’t be a purging at any occurrence, you shouldn’t be rendered inactive,” Mississippi State Director for the Southern Poverty Law Center Waikinya Clanton said. “Voting is about choice and it’s about responsibility and so people can choose to engage in a process or not.”

Fears of ‘voter fatigue’

The Hinds County Courthouse in Jackson was buzzing with voters all day Monday demanding answers about their ballot. In interviews with CNN this week, several Mississippi voters who were ensnared by the process said they have had to scramble to confirm their votes would count.

TaChana Hurst, a Colom supporter who lives in Hinds County, told CNN she voted the last seven years without issues. But this year, after not being allowed to cast an absentee ballot, she arrived at her polling place only to be told she had to report to a different precinct. After hours of going back and forth between two precincts, she was told to fill out an affidavit ballot that was accepted a few days later.

“I’m just glad that I refused to give up because I could have just left when they couldn’t find me in the system, but that wouldn’t be exercising my right to vote,” she recalled. “I’ve never had this experience before.”

In the car on the way to the Hinds County Courthouse on Monday, Rebecca Cavett was clutching her driver’s license, as she waited to find out if her ballot was going to be accepted. She wasn’t sure if she was given an affidavit or absentee ballot initially, Cavett said, speaking to how chaotic and confusing she found the experience. She found out Monday that she had voted via an absentee ballot but says she was told she needed to provide more identification in person.

She lost her daughter to gun violence and her brother died of prostate cancer after facing mounting medical bills, Cavett said, so she was going to fight for her vote to count for Colom. Cavett’s ballot was accepted, but she is worried about others who might give up given how complicated the process has become.

“It’s causing voter fatigue. You get discouraged a little bit, but I know that my vote is my voice. So, it’s been a whole obstacle course, but it’s worth it. It’s worth it, and your vote does count,” Cavett told CNN.

The secretary of state worked with Experian

Watson, the Mississippi secretary of state, announced last year that the state had reached a deal with the credit reporting agency Experian to provide data as an additional tool to help identify voters who may have moved.

The decision raised concern among some political observers.

Marvin King, who teaches political science and African American Studies at the University of Mississippi, questioned the accuracy of the data, given that more than 9% of the state’s residents do not use a bank and are outside the credit system.

Mississippi Today reported that the state’s voter maintenance activities had left more than 230,000 voters statewide – or about 1 in 9 – in inactive status ahead of Election Day.

In a statement, an Experian official said the company has not “provided services” to Mississippi since early 2025.

“The solution provided at that time consisted of supplemental address information and was not designed or intended to validate voter records,” it added.

The inactive voters have not been removed from the rolls. But Michael Morse, an expert on election administration at the University of Pennsylvania’s law school, said the decision to exclude them from poll books that local officials use at each precinct sets Mississippi apart from other jurisdictions.

Many states allow inactive voters who show up at the correct precinct on Election Day to cast a regular ballot rather than vote provisionally, he said. In addition, he noted that federal law allows even voters deemed inactive to remain eligible to vote at their address of registration for two federal general elections.

“Mississippi short-circuits the process by hastily excluding you from the poll book,” Morse said.

CNN’s Tierney Sneed contributed to this report.

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