Mississippi Senate race stays undecided as vote count continues

Mississippi's U.S. Senate race between Democrat Scott Colom and Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith was still undecided on Friday, days after Election Day. The Associated Press says it is too early to call. Colom, a local prosecutor, could become the state's first Black senator since post-Civil War Reconstruction.

Nearly 40% of Mississippi's population is Black. Local officials in the state's 82 counties are examining absentee and affidavit ballots. Absentee ballots count if received by Tuesday, five business days after the election.

Voters with identification problems have until Tuesday to resolve them in person. Counties must certify full results to the secretary of state by the following Friday. Colom said ballots counted since the election lean in his favor.

Hyde-Smith essentially declared victory on election night and has not appeared publicly since, but she posted Friday that the election is not over and her team is monitoring the remaining ballots. Mississippi law has no provision for a statewide recount, though campaigns could seek court orders, usually county by county, to examine ballots. Democrats have already won control of the Senate, so the result would not change the balance of power in Washington.

For Mississippi voters who cast affidavit ballots because of a glitch at the polls, the Associated Press report run by ABC News says those with identification problems have until Tuesday to fix them in person at a local elections office. Voters missing from a precinct's rolls typically need not go in, and ballot status can be checked on the secretary of state's website.