From§Each

Page B53From§Eachthe morning edition — 6 November 2026

Trump sued to block Alaska's count if the Republican lost; a week later Mississippi's trailing Republican tried the same move

By MortThe Records Bureau

“Mississippi Democrat’s lead continues to widen as race remains uncalled”, 6 November 2026 (Photo via Washington Examiner — the original report)

As it ran on the front

The concession died once this autumn, in Anchorage, and the undertaker's report said only that the cause was declined. That was 24 October: the Justice Department sued to block certification of Alaska's Senate seat, but only on the condition the Republican lost it, and the complaint named not one ballot. Four federal probes into the matter later closed with zero charges. The body was buried without a cause of death, which should have been the end of it.

It was not the end of it. This week the same corpse turned up in Mississippi, wearing a different suit.…

…(cont) On 29 October, with what The Guardian called one week left before the vote, Scott Colom's headquarters in Corinth was busy the way headquarters get busy: volunteers phone-banking, staffers readying another day on the road, the candidate fresh off a press conference in a small city near the Tennessee border where the president had just campaigned for his opponent. Colom was asking Mississippi for a change. Earlier, on 12 October, a former president had rolled out a television ad doing the asking for him: "Mississippi, it's time for a change." The margin, when the counting started, was a race inside a single county's rounding error — Scott Colom ahead of Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith by fewer than 100 votes, initially, in a state built to make that number look like a typo.

By Friday morning it was not a typo. It was 1,800 votes, and widening, with Colom at 49 percent in a contest neither network had called. The National Republican Senatorial Committee's answer arrived the same week the DOJ's Alaska complaint did: a letter to all 82 Mississippi counties asking that certain ballots be set aside, separated from the rest, pending whatever comes next. On Thursday an attorney for Colom wrote back that the request was unlawful under state law and should be ignored. Hyde-Smith's campaign called it preservation. Colom's campaign called it an unlawful attack. The receipts call it the same letter two states wrote inside the same week, one marked DOJ, one marked NRSC, same signature underneath.

The old norm asked so little: you count, you come up short, you say so and go home. It kept no lawyers because it needed none. That was the whippersnapper's bargain and the republic's, and the bill came due twice in seven days.

In lieu of flowers, every county finish its count and publish it, on the date it is finished, before anyone asks it to do otherwise.

“Same week, same move, two different states — that's not a coincidence, that's a memo somebody's circulating. First Alaska, then Mississippi: lose the count, sue the count, or just ask real nice for the ballots you don't like to get set aside in a drawer somewhere. The guy down 1,800 votes isn't supposed to get a do-over; he's supposed to get a loss.”
Sal
“Look, asking counties to preserve ballots isn't demanding anything be thrown out, that's just — chain of custody, due diligence, basic election integrity, people should be thanking us. Did I say "all 82 counties"? That's standard, that's not — okay, it's every county in the state, but that's a coincidence of timing, not a pattern, there's no pattern here.”
Chip

Earlier in this story

The receipts

Colom rips 'unlawful attack' after Hyde-Smith demands ballot preservation in Mississippi National Republican committee, not Hyde-Smith, told 82 counties to isolate ballots
The Hillmainstream§

An attorney for Mississippi Democratic Senate candidate Scott Colom said Republican efforts to separate particular ballots are illegal under state law and should not be followed, according to a letter sent to county election commissioners Thursday. The letter comes in reaction to the National Republican Senatorial Committee's request to…

· ‘Mississippi matters’: Scott Colom aims to turn Mississippi blue from the morgue, 29 Oct 2026

· A Mississippi Democrat is unexpectedly threatening Republicans’ grip on the state from the morgue, 29 Oct 2026

· Obama rolls out ad for Dem Scott Colom in Mississippi Senate race from the morgue, 12 Oct 2026

· Trump ask to set aside ‘Decoy Dan’ Alaska Senate ballots ‘not even possible’: attorneys from the morgue, 31 Oct 2026

· Peltola repeats denial of ballot-stacking reports, stays silent on federal probe from the morgue, 31 Oct 2026

· Trump prosecutions under Biden set precedent for DOJ’s Alaska ‘Decoy Dan’ probe, ex-FEC chair says from the morgue, 31 Oct 2026

· Murkowski snubs Trump-backed Alaska candidate, endorses Democrat for governor from the morgue, 28 Oct 2026

· DOJ sues to block Alaska Senate certification if Sullivan loses from the morgue, 24 Oct 2026

· Alaska Election Gambit Shows Justice Dept. Has Bowed to Trump’s Demands from the morgue, 24 Oct 2026

· Donald Trump challenges Alaska Senate trace from the morgue, 24 Oct 2026

· Trump administration sues to block possible Democratic win in Alaska Senate race from the morgue, 24 Oct 2026

· The controversy surrounding convicted former election official Tina Peters from the morgue, 24 Oct 2026

· Alaska Senate race featuring two Dan Sullivans is ‘blatantly corrupt’: Joe Concha from the morgue, 24 Oct 2026

· Trump officials abandon effort to investigate election threats, experts warn from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026

· Tina Peters turns down job with California county's registrar of voters from the morgue, 1 Sep 2026

· Election deniers stoke Trump-driven ballot security fears before midterms from the morgue, 6 Oct 2026

· Facing an electoral wipeout, Trump goes after the system from the morgue, 24 Oct 2026

· Justice Dept. Demands That California Counties Help Identify Noncitizen Voters from the morgue, 24 Oct 2026

· Sabato’s Crystal Ball shifts Alaska and South Carolina Senate races in favor of Democrats from the morgue, 6 Oct 2026

· Appeals Court Rejects 'Likely Unlawful' Trump Push to Undermine Mail-In Voting as Supreme Court Looms from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· US justice department sues California over alleged noncitizen voting from the morgue, 15 Oct 2026

· Trump knocks Alaska voting system: 'How stupid are we to do this?' from the morgue, 9 Oct 2026

· Corey Lewandowski Always Found His Way Back to Trump. Until Now. from the morgue, 23 Oct 2026

· Trump announces $6.6bn defense shipyard owned by top Republican donor’s firm from the morgue, 6 Oct 2026

· Companies Backed by Trump Sons Have Scored Over $6 Billion in Pentagon Contracts: Analysis from the morgue, 7 Oct 2026

· DOJ demands that California counties help identify noncitizen voters from the morgue, 24 Oct 2026

· DOJ demands that some California counties set aside alleged noncitizen ballots from the morgue, 25 Oct 2026

· California officials ordered by DoJ to set aside ‘likely’ noncitizen ballots from the morgue, 24 Oct 2026

· LA feds move to halt ballot counting over 20K suspected noncitizen voters from the morgue, 23 Oct 2026

· Trump 'Laying the Groundwork for Election Meddling' With DHS Hunt for Noncitizen Voters from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026

· California has no real safeguards for voting and voter registration from the morgue, 21 Oct 2026

· Federal efforts over alleged noncitizen voting escalate with California arrests from the morgue, 20 Oct 2026

· Federal voter fraud arrests intensify in California days after DOJ warning from the morgue, 19 Oct 2026

· Trump DOJ issues stark warning to California ballot counters after suing state over 20K suspected noncitizen voters from the morgue, 17 Oct 2026

· Intel Democrats on how they'll react if Trump alleges election meddling from the morgue, 23 Oct 2026

· Trump told DOJ to sue to block Alaska Senate results if Republican narrowly loses from the morgue, 26 Oct 2026

· Trump says he personally ordered DOJ lawsuit intervening in Alaska Senate election from the morgue, 23 Oct 2026

· Ramaswamy accuses Acton of ‘lying’ about attack ad, but court records contradict mother’s claim – live from the morgue, 24 Oct 2026

· DoJ sues to block certification of Alaska Senate results if Republican incumbent loses from the morgue, 23 Oct 2026

· Trump-Ordered DOJ Lawsuit in Alaska Seen as First Salvo in GOP Effort to Undermine Midterm Elections from the morgue, 23 Oct 2026

· Trump on the Alaska election lawsuit: 'I'm the one that said, "do it"' from the morgue, 23 Oct 2026

· Trump administration sues to block certification of upcoming Alaska election from the morgue, 23 Oct 2026

· DOJ files lawsuit to block results in Alaska Senate race after two Dan Sullivans land on November ballot from the morgue, 23 Oct 2026

· Trump previews trip to Alaska to campaign for Dan Sullivan, ripping into the other Dan Sullivan from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026

· Trump urges Alaskans to vote for the ‘real’ Dan Sullivan in tight midterms battle from the morgue, 14 Oct 2026

· Sullivan trails Peltola in Alaska Senate contest: AARP poll from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· Trump vows to probe other Dan Sullivan in alleged Dem plot to sabotage ‘real’ Alaska GOP senator from the morgue, 14 Oct 2026

· Trump administration sued over plans to send election monitors to voting sites from the morgue, 7 Oct 2026

· AGs v. Trump: How an AWOL Congress made hundreds of lawsuits possible from the morgue, 16 Oct 2026

· The Electoral College meets in the state capitals to officially elect the next President. Joe Biden, the presumptive president-elect, is officially elected president after securing California's 55 ele from the morgue, 14 Dec 2020

· US federal agents raid home of Democratic congresswoman and Trump critic Ilhan Omar from the morgue, 12 Oct 2026

· Ilhan Omar’s Home Raided by DHS Following Trump-GOP Deportation Threats from the morgue, 12 Oct 2026

· Federal Agents Search Home of Rep. Ilhan Omar from the morgue, 13 Oct 2026

· Rep. Ilhan Omar’s residence searched as part of ongoing criminal investigation: DOJ from the morgue, 13 Oct 2026

· Rep. Ilhan Omar's D.C. home searched by Homeland Security investigators from the morgue, 12 Oct 2026

· Rep. Ilhan Omar’s DC home raided by DHS as part of probe into Dem’s immigration paperwork from the morgue, 12 Oct 2026

· Homan confirms 'criminal' investigation involving Ilhan Omar, says he knows 'things are going on’ from the morgue, 13 Sep 2026

· WATCH: Ilhan Omar denies feds have contacted her after border czar Homan confirms 'criminal' investigation from the morgue, 18 Sep 2026

· Could Trump revoke Ilhan Omar's citizenship for alleged brother marriage? Ex federal prosecutor breaks it down from the morgue, 29 Sep 2026

· Did Ilhan Omar marry her own brother? The claims explained from the morgue, 22 Sep 2026

· Russia’s Lavrov blasts US, Western allies as “warmongers’ in fiery UN tirade from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026

· Russia and China unite against US over Iran and Cuba in UN speeches from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026

· U.S. military lays groundwork for potential action around Cuba from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026

· The United Nations Security Council has resoundingly rejected a United States bid to extend a global arms embargo on Iran. In a Security Council vote, United States only got support from the Dominican from the morgue, 14 Aug 2020

· U.S. Threatens New Economic War on Iran by Targeting China & Tehran's Other Top Trading Partners from the morgue, 25 Aug 2026

· In Defiant UN Speech, Iranian President Says US and Israel Are the Real Terrorists from the morgue, 23 Sep 2026

· Trump slams reporting on removal of his endorsements from GOP candidate's website from the morgue, 27 Sep 2026

· Donalds removes several Trump mentions from campaign website from the morgue, 22 Sep 2026

· GOP hopeful removes ‘Pro-Trump’ mention from campaign slogan in deep-red seat from the morgue, 23 Sep 2026

· Where Trump’s 2026 endorsement record stands after primary season from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026

· U.N. experts say U.S. may have committed war crimes with 2 Iran strikes from the morgue, 22 Sep 2026

· Trump Says 'Big Decision' Coming on Whether to 'Annihilate' Iran from the morgue, 18 Sep 2026

· Pentagon No. 3 frustrates senators in closed-door briefing on Iran war, Trump defense strategy from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· Senate Democrats, minus Fetterman, urge Hegseth to provide receipt for Iran war costs from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· Hegseth on "devastation" to Iran's capabilities from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026

· Trump admits Iran war will not end before midterms from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026

· Iran War Trump Said Would Be Quick Has Now Lasted 6 Months With 'No End In Sight' from the morgue, 28 Aug 2026

· CBO Finds Trump's Iran War Has Already Cost Nearly $40 Billion—And That's a 'Conservative' Estimate from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026

· Tillis supports Hegseth impeachment resolution: 'He needs to go' from the morgue, 18 Sep 2026

· Massie Files Impeachment Articles Against Hegseth for Illegal Iran War, Boat Murders from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026

· Massie launches effort to impeach Hegseth from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026

· Tillis urges Trump to fire Hegseth over 'inept management' of military from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026

This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.