美国两党都在关注密西西比州参议员选举的紧张选情，此前一些选民报告在投票时遇到问题，一项备受争议的选民名单清理工作因此受到审查。
Americans on both sides of the political aisle are watching the nail-bitingly close Mississippi Senate race where a controversial voter-roll cleanup has come under scrutiny after some voters reported problems casting their ballots. Why it matters:
重要性：这场胶着战暴露了在确定选民居住地和州如何维护选民名单时，依赖第三方数据的担忧。
cliffhanger has exposed concerns about relying on third-party data to determine where voters live and how states maintain voter rolls.
- 共和党参议员辛迪·海德-史密斯（Cindy Hyde-Smith）和民主党人斯科特·科隆（Scott Colom）正在为争夺该州初级参议员席位展开势均力敌的竞争。
• Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democrat Scott Colom are locked in a razor-thin race to be the state's junior senator. • As of 2 p.m.
- 根据美联社的数据，截至周五美国东部时间下午2点，科隆领先约2000多票。
ET Friday, Colom led by a little over 2000 votes, according to Associated Press data. The big picture:
大背景：根据《密西西比今日报》（Mississippi Today）的分析，在期中选举前，有超过23万密西西比州居民被列为不活跃选民。根据联邦数据，这一数字高于2024年选举中的约16.6万人。
- 这些选民并未被从选民名单中删除，但他们必须在周二的选举中投下宣誓书选票。
More than 230,000 Mississippians were listed as inactive ahead of the midterms, according to an analysis by Mississippi Today. That's up from roughly 166,000 in the 2024 election, according to federal data • Those voters weren't removed from the rolls, but they were required to cast affidavit ballots in Tuesday's election.
- 选举工作人员在选举日后审查这些选票，将选民信息与注册记录进行核对。在某些情况下，选民必须向其县巡回法院书记官办公室核实身份，这会减慢计票速度，并在此次选举中决定获胜者。
• Election workers review those ballots after Election Day, checking voter information against registration records. In some cases, voters must verify their identity with their county circuit clerk's office, slowing vote counting and — in this case — determining the winner.
内幕：在州初选于3月举行后，州务卿迈克尔·沃森（Michael Watson）的办公室与信用报告公司Experian签署了一份5万美元的协议，以帮助核实选民地址，此后不活跃选民的总数激增。
The intrigue: The inactive voter total shot up after the state's March primaries, months after Secretary of State Michael Watson's office inked a $50,000 deal with credit reporting company Experian to help verify voter addresses.
- “密西西比州不活跃选民登记人数的增加引起了一些担忧，因为与往年相比，在如此短的时间内出现如此高的数字似乎很不寻常，”选举研究专家、密西西比州立大学前教授西萨利亚·梅里瓦基（Thessalia Merivaki）告诉Axios。
• "The increase in inactive registrations across the state of Mississippi raised some concerns because it seemed unusually high compared to other cycles and in such a small amount of time," Thessalia Merivaki, an elections research expert and former professor at Mississippi State University, tells Axios.
- 她表示，人们担心这些数据经纪商“有多可靠”，以及依赖他们是否“导致符合条件的选民被错误地列为不活跃状态”。
• She says there were concerns about "how reliable" these data brokers are, and whether relying on them had "resulted in erroneously placing eligible voters on an inactive status." How it works:
运作方式： Experian的数据旨在标记可能已搬迁的选民，而非自动确立地址变更。
Experian's data was intended to flag voters who might have moved, not automatically establish an address change.
- 当地选举官员本应将这些记录与其他信息进行比较，例如死亡记录、社会保障记录和全国地址变更数据库，以维护选民名单，但各县在如何进行方面拥有自主权。
• Local election officials were supposed to compare those records with other information, such as death records, Social Security records and the National Change of Address database to maintain voter lists, but counties have discretion over how to proceed.
- Merivaki表示，Oktibbeha县的官员知道一些记录不准确，因为他们认识这些选民。Oktibbeha县的一名选举官员周五向Axios证实了这一信息。
• Merivaki says officials in Oktibbeha County knew some records were inaccurate because they recognized the voters. An election official in Oktibbeha County confirmed that information to Axios on Friday.
举例说明：密西西比州美国公民自由联盟执行主任Jarvis Dortch告诉Axios，一位在Chickasaw县生活了很久的选民被告知他住在另一个县，尽管他从未搬家。
Case in point: Jarvis Dortch, executive director of the ACLU of Mississippi, told Axios that a longtime Chickasaw County voter was told he lived in a different county, despite never having moved.
- Dortch怀疑，该男子在Lee县为他姐姐担保的汽车贷款很可能导致了这次混淆。他说，该州最终允许他投票。
• Dortch suspects a car loan the man co-signed for his sister in Lee County likely caused the mix-up. He said the state ultimately let him vote.
- Dortch还说，一些选民被拒绝投票，而不是被提供宣誓书选票。
• Dortch also said some voters were turned away instead of offered affidavit ballots.
是的，但是：目前尚不清楚有多少新近不活跃的注册是由Experian数据造成的。
Yes, but: It's unclear how many of the newly inactive registrations are due to Experian data.
- 一位Experian发言人告诉Axios，该公司“自2025年初以来一直未向密西西比州提供服务。当时提供的解决方案包括补充地址信息，并非旨在或意图验证选民记录。”
• An Experian spokesperson told Axios that the company "has not provided services to the State of Mississippi since early 2025. The solution provided at that time consisted of supplemental address information and was not designed or intended to validate voter records."
- “有关选民登记政策、程序和记录更新的决定完全由选举官员根据适用的地方法律、州法律和联邦法律做出。”
• "Decisions regarding voter registration policies, procedures and record updates are made solely by election officials in accordance with applicable local, state and federal laws."
- Watson的办公室后来告诉WAPT-TV，他们不再使用Experian的数据，转而使用IDI Data和美国邮政服务记录。
• Watson's office later told WAPT-TV it no longer uses Experian data, switching to IDI Data and U.S. Postal Service records.
- 他的办公室没有回应Axios关于何时停止使用该数据或有关合同及其条款的其他详细问题的提问。
• His office did not respond to Axios' questions about when it stopped using the data or other detailed questions about the contract and its terms.
他们怎么说：沃森周二为该州的制度进行了辩护，称“通过宣誓选票投票可能需要多花几分钟，但为了拥有更清洁的选民名册而增加的选举诚信，这非常值得！”
What they're saying: Watson defended the state's system Tuesday, saying "The extra few minutes it may take to vote via affidavit ballot are well worth the election integrity added by having cleaner voter rolls!"