Colom Attorney Calls GOP Ballot Separation Efforts Illegal in Mississippi

An attorney for Mississippi Democratic Senate candidate Scott Colom has told county election commissioners that Republican efforts to separate particular ballots are illegal under state law and should not be followed, according to a letter sent Thursday, The Hill reported. The letter responds to a demand from Hyde-Smith that ballots be preserved in the state.

The letter is a reaction to a request from the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) sent to all 82 Mississippi counties, The Hill said. The available summary of that report breaks off before describing the full terms of the request, so what the committee asked counties to do cannot be completed from the material at hand.

The Hill's headline framed Colom's response as a reaction to an "unlawful attack," placing the dispute within the Mississippi Senate race. The report does not specify which ballots the Republican effort seeks to separate, and it does not say whether any county has acted on the request.

The report was written by Ryan J. Karlin of The Hill. According to the outlet's summary, the letter was addressed to county election commissioners and was sent by an attorney for Colom, though the summary does not name that attorney. The account of the dispute therefore rests on the Colom letter and the NRSC request as described in the report, and the available summary does not describe any response from Hyde-Smith or the NRSC.

Sources: The Hill: Colom rips 'unlawful attack' after Hyde-Smith demands ballot preservation in Mississippi.