alabama special election
Roy Moore files lawsuit to block Alabama Senate election results
More than two weeks after Democrat Doug Jones was declared the winner of Alabama's special Senate election, his Republican opponent, Roy Moore, filed a lawsuit attempting to block the results, CNN reports. The complaint calls for an investigation into possible voter fraud and a new special election. "This is not a Republican or Democrat issue as election integrity should matter to everyone," Moore said in a statement.
Jones won the election by more than 20,000 votes, but Moore has refused to concede. His statement says the Dec. 12 vote was riddled with "irregularities," such as a higher-than-expected voter turnout in some counties. Throughout the race, Moore was accused by multiple women of unwanted sexual advances when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. He denied the allegations.
Moore's complaint came just hours before Jones was to be officially declared the election's winner on Thursday. Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill told The Associated Press that the certification will likely go forward as planned, and Jones will be sworn in on Jan. 3. Moore is the first Republican to lose a U.S. Senate race in the state in 25 years.