So on its face it looks like McDaniel cannot run as a write-in. But that would be wrong to think because federal court case law does not support MS state law in regards to candidates seeking federal office. So according to federal rulings which trump state law, McDaniel can run as a write-in.
Yes I am sure. Federal rulings support both his filing as an independent and campaigning as a write-in. MS would need to make a solid argument of a “state compelling interest” in denying voters the right to elect him and this argument would need to be strong enough to overcome a federal injunction against the state.
But let’s not follow this tact yet because it looks very probable that the McDaniel campaign will get their evidence on a number of fronts to overturn the runoff election and quite possibly get Cochran kicked out altogether.