The tea party is still on the prowl for voter fraud in Lincoln County and across the state. Although there has been no evidence released to suggest the 5,000 voter irregularities in the June 24 U.S. Senate Republican runoff that candidate Chris McDaniel has claimed across the state, his campaign continues to hunt for signs of foul play by cracking open ballot boxes in counties across the state.

With only a 6,800 vote difference statewide in the July 24 election, McDaniel is certain his second primary loss to incumbent Sen. That Cochran was due to cross-over voting, the illegal practice of allowing voters to vote in both Democrat and Republican primaries in the same election cycle.

“The fight for our conservative values is not over. This election was a sham, and I will fight against it until the very end,” said McDaniel on his campaign website.

On Thursday morning last week, tea party members were set to begin sorting through the 2,000-plus pages of Lincoln County poll books, when the process was halted by a fax sent by Tyner Law Firm that requested the opportunity to view the entire ballot box.

Although both McDaniel’s representatives and Cochran’s representatives were present, the law firm insisted that the proceedings be moved to Monday, July 7, giving a required three-day notice of the change to all parties involved.

Dustin Bairfield, Lincoln County circuit clerk, said prior to the official request by the Tyner Law Firm in Jackson, several local McDaniel campaigners had asked to review the books, but none had the proper paperwork. Bairfield said in accordance with state code, the voter books remain sealed for 12 days after the election, with the exception that party candidates or official candidate representatives may view the books within that period.

“During the runoff election, supporters of Thad Cochran recruited Democrats to come vote in the Republican runoff. The result was thousands of voting irregularities stolen in the election,” McDaniel said on his site. “We need all the help we can get to investigate this fraud and make certain that this election was conducted fairly.”

The McDaniel campaign has asked for $50 from supporters and is offering 15 rewards of $1,000 to anyone who finds evidence of voter fraud.

McDaniel said in an interview with CNN that his campaign has found at least 5,000 irregularities in voting in the state and he will be mounting a legal challenge “any day now.”

Thursday, Noel Fritsch, a spokesman for the McDaniel campaign, said there are still 31 counties that where they have not gained access to the election records and there are more than 19,000 absentee ballots that have yet to be examined. He added that the campaign is confident that representatives will find several ineligible ballots.

Lincoln County is one of the 31 counties still to be reviewed.

Cindy Moore, field representative for the Thad for Mississippi campaign, said that Copiah County, Lawrence County and Pike County have had a total of 18 crossover votes per McDaniel representatives’ review of the June 24 poll books. She added that to her knowledge, the numbers have not been verified by the circuit clerk of each county.

“Granted every vote counts, and makes a difference; however, common sense dictates there will be a small number of irregularities due to human error,” Moore said. “When you compare the previously mentioned numbers to the total number of Republican ballots cast in each of those counties, the percentage of error in our area has been minuscule.”

Moore said she does not expect the percentage to change after the July 7 review of Lincoln County’s ballot boxes due to “the superb work, dedication and efficiency of our precinct poll workers.”

McDaniel’s challenge will be filed with the state Republican Party Executive Committee, as required by law. If the committee rejects a request for a new election, McDaniel could file an appeal with a state circuit court in a county where the campaign believes it has found voting irregularities, said state Sen. Michael Watson, the attorney working with McDaniel’s campaign in an interview with the Washington Post.

The challenge is following the “True the Vote” lawsuit that is being filed against Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann. Twelve Mississippi voters are asking for an injunction against certifying the election results so that the group and their volunteers can conduct a review of election documents.

A press release from the secretary of state’s office Thursday said that the office possesses no poll books from the June 3 or June 24 election and has committed no violation of the National Voter Registration Act and will not.

“The party primary elections are the responsibility of the party, not the secretary of state,” Hosemann wrote in the release. “The secretary of state’s office does not certify primary election results. The secretary of state’s office only receives certified results from the party in order to prepare the general election ballot.”

Hosemann said if his office is made aware of any person voting in both Democratic and Republican primaries, those individuals’ names will be forwarded to the district attorney and attorney general for whatever prosecutorial action they deem appropriate.

“The McDaniel campaign’s claims are wildly exaggerated and offering bounties for information makes a mockery of what should be a serious process,” said Jordan Russell, communications director for the Cochran campaign. “The only evidence that McDaniel has that something went wrong was that he lost.

Cochran campaign representatives have been present during each of the ballot box examinations in the state to observe and ensure the integrity of the poll books. Russell said that every county statewide, so far has had the number of irregularities in the single digits, not thousands.

“The whole thing is a charade,” said Russell. “There is no basis in facts.”

The grassroots tea party movement continued to show support for McDaniel’s push for office by hosting a gathering in front of the Mississippi State Capitol Saturday to ask for supporters to donate money and volunteer time to McDaniel’s efforts.

The above story includes reporting from The Associated Press.