Mississippi election offices were still processing remaining ballots Sunday in the U.S. Senate race between Democrat Scott Colom, a district attorney, and Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, according to a CNBC report by The Associated Press, and AP had not called the contest¹.

The report said a Colom win would make him the first Black senator from Mississippi since Reconstruction, in a state where it said nearly 40 percent of residents are Black¹.

Local officials were receiving and examining absentee ballots and provisional ballots known as affidavit ballots, the report said, with campaign volunteers and lawyers watching for possible litigation¹.

Colom said local officials were doing their jobs and that ballots counted since Tuesday leaned in his favor, according to the report; he asked why Hyde-Smith had not described a path to winning¹.

The report said Hyde-Smith had not appeared in public since election night; it characterized her election-night remarks as a victory claim despite a thin margin and uncounted ballots¹.

On Friday she posted, "We are not backing down," and said her team was monitoring remaining ballots, according to the report¹.

The number of outstanding ballots was not stated in the account reviewed, and independent unofficial statewide totals were not in that source¹.

Sources

1. CNBCScott Colom and Black Mississippians stand on the cusp of Senate history as vote count stretches on8:35 AM

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