The National Republican Senatorial Committee, the campaign arm of Senate Republicans, is demanding that Mississippi election officials preserve election documents and all affidavit ballots, according to a report published Thursday by The Hill. The outlet said affidavit ballots are typically called provisional ballots.
The Hill, in a report by Ford McCracken, described the demand as the first step toward possible legal action in the Senate race, which it characterized as widely watched. The summary said the committee's action is directed at preserving documents and did not describe any court filing. It also did not say when any legal filing might occur or whether a lawsuit would follow.
According to The Hill, the race remained too close to call as of Thursday evening, with Democrat Scott Colom leading. The available text does not name Colom's opponent in full and gives no vote margin.
The Hill's account does not say which Mississippi officials received the committee's demand, whether they have responded, or which counties or election offices the documents would cover. The report also gave no response from state officials, and no independent confirmation of the committee's action appeared in the material available for this story.
Affidavit ballots, as The Hill described them, are the ballots typically called provisional ballots. The report did not describe how Mississippi counts or handles such ballots, and it did not explain how the demand would affect their treatment before the race is decided.