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Alabama election: Roy Moore challenges loss to Doug Jones in lawsuit Alabama officials say Doug Jones will be confirmed despite Roy Moore challenge
(about 5 hours later)
Republican Roy Moore has filed a lawsuit to try to stop Alabama from certifying Democrat Doug Jones as the winner of the state’s special Senate election on 12 December. Roy Moore, the loser in Alabama’s closely watched Senate race this month, has filed a late complaint seeking to delay the confirmation of the Democrat Doug Jones as the state’s new junior senator.
The court filing occurred about 14 hours before Thursday’s meeting of a state canvassing board to officially declare Jones the winner. Jones defeated Moore by about 20,000 votes. In a statement on Thursday, Moore’s lawyers called for a new special election and claimed Alabama “will suffer irreparable harm if the election results are certified without preserving and investigating all the evidence of potential fraud”.
State officials said, however, that Jones would be certified the winner on Thursday.
Moore, who was accused of assaulting teenage girls while in his 30s, lost to Jones in the 12 December race by roughly 20,000 votes, a margin of 1.5%. It was the first time Alabama had elected a Democrat to the US Senate in 25 years.
Moore refused to concede, citing unsubstantiated rumors of election fraud and claiming high Democratic turnout was improbable. Moore’s team filed its official complaint in the circuit court of Montgomery, Alabama, late on Wednesday night.
Jones’s transition team said the last-ditch legal challenge was “a desperate attempt by Roy Moore to subvert the will of the people”.
“The election is over. It’s time to move on,” spokesman Sam Coleman said.
State officials disputed any claim of inconsistencies in the voting process and confirmed they would proceed with certifying Jones’s win. John H Merrill, the Alabama secretary of state, told CNN: “Will this affect anything? The short answer to that is no.”
Merrill said he planned to meet Alabama’s governor, Kay Ivey, and attorney general, Steve Marshall, on Thursday afternoon to certify the election result. Jones would then be sworn in on 3 January when the Senate reconvened, he said.
With respect to Moore’s allegations of voter fraud, Merrill said that while more than 100 such cases had been reported, the state had “adjudicated more than 60 of those”.
“We will continue to do that,” he said.
Moore’s court filing, which spanned dozens of pages, cited “experts” who alleged voter fraud and called for a new special election. Among them was Richard Charnin, who has a blog dedicated to John F Kennedy conspiracy theories and has also floated conspiracies over the 2016 death of Seth Rich, a Democratic National Committee staffer.
Another, James Condit Jr, has espoused antisemitic views and promoted conspiracies about a supposed Jewish takeover of the Vatican.
Moore’s attorneys also pointed to turnout exceeding expectations in Jefferson County, where Jones won more than 68% of the vote and was buoyed in part by high turnout among black voters.
Moore has separately sent fundraising emails which solicited donations to investigate alleged voter fraud.
The 63-year-old grew up in the working-class city of Fairfield, just west of Birmingham, an area once dominated by the steel industry.  His father was a steelworker and he spent time working in a mill when not in schoolThe 63-year-old grew up in the working-class city of Fairfield, just west of Birmingham, an area once dominated by the steel industry.  His father was a steelworker and he spent time working in a mill when not in school
Jones got his start in government as an aide to the last Democrat to serve a full term in the Senate from Alabama, the late Howell Heflin.Jones got his start in government as an aide to the last Democrat to serve a full term in the Senate from Alabama, the late Howell Heflin.
Years before running for the Senate himself, Jones became known for prosecuting two KKK members for the bombing of Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist church in 1963 which killed four black girls.Years before running for the Senate himself, Jones became known for prosecuting two KKK members for the bombing of Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist church in 1963 which killed four black girls.
After his appointment as US attorney in Birmingham in 1997, Jones led a team of federal and state attorneys during trials that resulted in the convictions of Thomas Blanton Jr in 2001 and Bobby Frank Cherry in 2002.After his appointment as US attorney in Birmingham in 1997, Jones led a team of federal and state attorneys during trials that resulted in the convictions of Thomas Blanton Jr in 2001 and Bobby Frank Cherry in 2002.
Moore’s attorney wrote in the complaint, filed late on Wednesday, that he believed there were irregularities during the election and said there should be a fraud investigation and eventually a new election. The Alabama Senate seat was left vacant by Jeff Sessions, who was chosen by Donald Trump to serve as attorney general.
“This is not a Republican or Democrat issue, as election integrity should matter to everyone,” Moore said. Moore, who had the backing of Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon, secured the Republican nomination in September. The former judge was already a controversial figure, having declared among other beliefs that homosexuality should be illegal and that Muslims should not serve in Congress, and having twice been removed from the state supreme court for unconstitutional actions.
Alabama’s secretary of state, John Merrill, told Associated Press on Wednesday evening that he had no intention of delaying the canvassing board meeting. In the months leading up to the election, Moore was accused of sexual misconduct towards a number of women. Some of the women, who came forward after decades amid a watershed moment around sexual harassment, said Moore molested them when they were teenagers.
“It is not going to delay certification and Doug Jones will be certified [on Thursday] at 1 pm and he will be sworn in by Vice-President Pence on 3 January,” Merrill said. Moore denied the accusations and attempted to discredit the women but has failed to turn up evidence to contradict their claims. In his legal challenge to the election result, his team said he had taken a polygraph test in an attempt to disprove the allegations.
In the complaint, Moore’s attorneys noted the higher than expected turnout in the race, particularly in Jefferson County, and said Moore’s numbers were suspiciously low in about 20 Jefferson County precincts. Shortly after the election, Trump, who backed Moore’s opponent in the primary, called on the beaten man to concede.
Merrill said he had so far not found evidence of voter fraud, but his office would investigate any complaint that Moore submits. “I would certainly say he should,” the president told reporters on 15 December.
Moore has not conceded the contest to Jones and has sent several fundraising emails to supporters asking for donations to investigate claims of voter fraud. Trump endorsed Moore against Jones, pointing to his denials of the allegations against him and insisting any candidate would be preferable to a “liberal Democrat” like Jones. Trump has himself been accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women. He denies all such allegations.
Jones and Moore were competing to fill the US Senate seat that previously belonged to the attorney general, Jeff Sessions. Moore’s campaign was wounded by accusations of sexual misconduct involving teenage girls decades ago. Jones’s victory has narrowed the Republican Senate majority to 51-49, although he was not seated in time to vote on the GOP tax reform bill.