Thousands of Mississippi voters need their ballots “cured.” This is how the process works

Democrat Scott Colom’s extremely narrow lead over Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi’s closely watched Senate race means the winner could be decided by a handful of ballots that have currently been set aside for various technical deficiencies.

There were approximately 8,000 to 12,000 affidavit ballots remaining to be counted as of Wednesday evening. Errors on ballots are common and can often be corrected through a process called curing.

Voters whose ballots were flagged will have until November 10 to correct these issues and ensure their vote counts. Counties must certify their election results by November 13.

Here’s what voters need to know to ensure their vote is counted.

Affidavit Voting Process

If a voter voted under oath on Election Day because they did not have a photo ID, they have five business days to go to the local circuit clerk’s office to present an acceptable photo ID or sign an affidavit of religious objection. This deadline is November 10.

Acceptable forms of photo ID for ballot relief include a driver’s license or state ID card, U.S. passport, court card, student ID card, or state permit to carry a pistol or revolver.

But the bigger problem appears to be that tens of thousands of Mississippi voters were marked as “inactive” ahead of the midterm elections because of the state’s decision to use a new vendor with unreliable data to clean and maintain voter rolls.

If a voter was labeled “inactive” or not listed on the poll book, they were required to fill out a sworn ballot and provide their address and other identifying information. The sworn vote then goes through the curing process, during which election commissioners determine eligibility.

A sworn ballot may not be counted if a voter is not registered to vote in the county where they voted, if a voter did not sign the ballot envelope or if they voted in a precinct not associated with their current address, according to the Mississippi Election Manual.

The ACLU of Mississippi, which monitors the statewide ballot processing process, told Democracy Docket that the primary reason a voter was marked “inactive” was a change of address and faulty Experian data. Election commissioners should be able to correct and verify the ballot using the statewide election management system without voters taking additional action.

“However, we encourage everyone who submitted a sworn ballot to follow up with the circuit clerk, just to make sure that the vote is counted, just so that there are no questions, and if there is a discrepancy, that it is corrected while we are still in that window,” said Lydia Grizzell, advocacy director for the ACLU of Mississippi.

Lily Moens, political director for Mississippi Votes, told Democracy Docket that one issue emerging during the healing process is people who voted in the wrong precinct due to sweeping changes to election sites.

“In Mississippi, over 100 precincts were changed or closed, and so it appears there was confusion about where people were supposed to vote, and that wasn’t rectified in the election. So people ended up voting under oath in the wrong precinct,” Moens said.

These ballots cannot be cured if the voter is registered in another precinct, Moens said.

When voting by affidavit, Mississippians should receive information on how to determine whether their ballot was counted. If it is rejected, voters need to know why, according to the secretary of state’s office,

Voters can check the status of their ballot on the Secretary of State’s website.

Postal voting process

More than 120,000 Mississippi voters have requested an absentee ballot for this election, according to the University of Florida Election Lab.

The state has a five-business-day grace period for mail-in ballots, provided they are postmarked by Election Day, meaning they can be counted until Nov. 10. Republicans tried to eliminate the grace period, but it was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year.

This story originally described a rule intended to address mail-in voting that was repealed. We apologize for the error.