While Rankin County Election Commissioners have cured about half of the county’s affidavit ballots so far, they intend to work through the weekend to finish the rest.
“I think the plan is to continue to work throughout the weekend,” Rankin County District 2 Election Commissioner Andrew Sorrentino told the Mississippi Free Press. “We understand that the candidates are looking for these results, and they need these results. They’ve worked hard on their campaigns, and more importantly, I think the public’s entitled to that information.”
Rankin County Election Commissioners will return to their day jobs on Monday, and come back at around 5 p.m. each weekday that counting continues.
They expect to begin scanning in affidavit ballots at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, commissioners told the Mississippi Free Press. That is the deadline for affidavit ballots to be cured as well as for mailed absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day to arrive.
Voters who registered after Oct. 5 and those missing signatures from their ballots both make up about 35% of affidavit ballots rejected in Rankin County so far.
While there is currently no way to cure ballots missing signatures, voters whose votes were rejected due to late registration might still have a chance to make their votes count.
“If an individual voter believes that they registered to vote through (the Department of Public Safety) prior to October 5, then those individuals who voted affidavit really need to be the ones calling to confirm the status of their affidavit ballot,” Sorrentino told the Mississippi Free Press.
Those who had to vote affidavit because they didn’t bring their ID to the polls can cure their ballot by showing their ID to the circuit clerk’s office.
Rankin County cannot view individual voter registration files submitted through the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, often completed during driver’s license renewals, without receiving a call like that, Sorrentino said.
“(If they call) our circuit clerk can get authorization to view that application, and we can correct that,” Sorrentino told the Mississippi Free Press.
