Alabama certified on Thursday Doug Jones’ Senate victory after Republican Roy Moore’s challenge seeking reelection was denied by a judge.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, Attorney General Steve Marshall and Secretary of State John Merrill, all of whom are Republicans, signed off on election results from all 67 counties, certifying that Jones beat Moore by 21,924 votes or 1.6 percentage points.
The Republican attempted to prevent the vote count, filing a lawsuit late on Wednesday in the Montgomery Circuit Court, alleging “election fraud,” preventing him from winning and asked for a new election. Moore’s campaign claimed in the complaint that Alabama would “suffer irreparable harm if the election results are certified … without preserving and investigating all the evidence of potential fraud.”
Moore’s campaign cited rumors of election fraud that had already been investigated and rejected by the Alabama secretary of state and argued that high Democratic turnout in key areas was statistically unlikely.
Merrill said that Moore could ask for a recount, provided that he completes paperwork “within a time period,” but added that they “have not been notified yet of their intention to do that.”
The Democrat’s victory means that the GOP majority in the Senate will be narrowed to 51 seats. However, Jones promised to work with both parties, Reuters reports.
Prior to the election, Republican lawmakers in Washington had distanced themselves from Moore and urged him to drop out of the race after he was accused by several women of sexual assault or misconduct dating back to when they were teenagers and he was in his early 30s.
Sam Coleman, Jones transition spokesman, called the lawsuit a “desperate attempt by Roy Moore to subvert the will of the people,” saying it won’t succeed.
“The election is over, it’s time to move on,” he added.
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