The Republican released figures showing 513 Mississippians cast affidavit ballots June 3 because they lacked proper identification, with at least 177 returning later to show ID and get votes counted. Another 298 ballots were rejected because people did not return by the Tuesday deadline, and 13 were rejected for other reasons, such as voters not being registered. Three counties with 25 ballots among them had not reported by Wednesday what happened to those affidavits.  A total of 400,000 ballots were cast.

…New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice, a leading opponent of voter ID laws, had estimated that 48,000 Mississippians could have trouble obtaining photo identification. Hosemann dismissed that estimate Wednesday, saying he thought that less than 2,000 ID cards issued by clerks showed most Mississippians already had ID.

But Larry Norden, deputy director of the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program, said people who otherwise may have voted stayed away.