Mississippi deactivates thousands of valid voters
The gist
Mississippi's secretary of state flagged 230,000 voter registrations inactive using unverified Experian credit data.
Thousands cast affidavit ballots, and the Senate race is too close to call.
How it unfolded
- Apr 21, 2026Mississippi Today reported on Secretary of State Michael Watson's use of Experian credit bureau data to clean voter rolls.
- Nov 2, 2026A Mississippi Today analysis found voter inactivations surged in midterms since the secretary of state adopted unverified Experian data; in DeSoto County over 15,000 people were removed as active voters between the primary and general election.
- Nov 3, 2026On Election Day, voters flagged inactive had to use provisional or affidavit ballots; Clint Lowery, registered five years, was told he was not on his precinct's voting list in Harrison County.
Key terms
- secretary of state
- A state-level official who is chief administrative officer and often the primary custodian of important state records.
- affidavit ballots
- A ballot used to record a vote whose voter eligibility must be resolved before it counts.
Source: Wikipedia