Mississippi Senate race turns to ballot counting as Colom holds narrow lead

Democrat Scott Colom leads Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith by about 1,800 votes as county officials vet provisional ballots in Mississippi's Senate race.

• Colom led Hyde-Smith by roughly 1,800 votes late Thursday; his campaign estimated about 15,000 provisional ballots remained outstanding.
• Lawyers for Hyde-Smith asked county officials to segregate affidavit ballots, and Colom's lawyers called the request unlawful and a risk to ballot secrecy.
• The NAACP deployed volunteers across all 82 counties to monitor ballot vetting and contact voters facing a November 10 deadline to resolve ID issues.
• Mississippi officials said all ballots must be counted by November 13, with results certified by December 3.