Why it's still too early to call the US Senate race in Mississippi

Nearly 2,500 votes separate Democrat Scott Colom and Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith as of Friday

The AP's outstanding vote estimate was around 44,000 votes Friday morning and revised to about 30,000 by 4:45 p.m. ET

Mississippi has no central vote reporting system; AP journalists contact each of the state's 82 counties directly for results

Mississippi requires photo ID at polls; voters without ID can cast provisional ballots counted only if ID is shown within five business days

Election Day: Most Mississippi voters cast ballots in person; absentee ballots must be postmarked by this date · Thursday: Secretary of State Michael Watson said about 7,000 provisional ballots had been processed, with about 80% accepted · Friday morning: AP's outstanding vote estimate stood at around 44,000 votes · Friday, 4:45 p.m. ET: AP's estimate revised to closer to 30,000 outstanding votes after updated county information · Nov. 10: Deadline for absentee ballots to be received to be counted · Nov. 13: Counties required to report certified results to the state, 10 days after the election

2,500 vote margin · 30,000 estimated outstanding votes · 7,000 provisional ballots processed · 47,000 Colom's vote lead in Hinds County · 73% Trump's 2024 vote share in Rankin County

In some counties it is unclear how many, if any, absentee ballots have yet been counted