Moore files suit to block Alabama election result

Republican Roy Moore is challenging the results of the Alabama Senate special election after losing to Democrat Doug Jones, alleging potential voter fraud in a court filing.

“The purpose of the complaint is to preserve evidence of potential election fraud and to postpone the certification of Alabama’s Special Election by Secretary of State John Merrill until a thorough investigation of potential election fraud, that improperly altered the outcome of this election, is conducted,” Moore’s campaign said in a statement.

Moore submitted the election complaint late Wednesday, hours before state officials were set to certify the victory of Jones, the first Democrat in decades to win a Senate seat in the normally Republican state.

{mosads}He is seeking to delay the state board meeting, which is scheduled on Thursday to stamp off on Jones’s win, in order to investigate claims of voting “irregularities” in the state that could’ve tipped the scales in the race.

“We call on Secretary of State Merrill to delay certification until there is a thorough investigation,” the statement continued while citing “three independent election experts” who say there was “election fraud sufficient to overturn the outcome of the election.”

Sam Coleman, a spokesman for Jones, described the court filing as a “desperate attempt” on behalf of Moore to challenge the election results. 

“This desperate attempt by Roy Moore to subvert the will of the people will not succeed. The election is over, it’s time to move on,” Coleman said in a statement to The Hill.

Moore has refused to concede defeat to Jones after the Dec. 12 election, even after President Trump called on him to do so.

Moore’s campaign encouraged their supporters to call Merrill, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) and Attorney General Steve Marshall to delay the decision.

Merrill on Thursday told CNN that Jones would be certified as the election’s winner.

Moore’s campaign was dogged by sexual misconduct allegations, with a handful of women accusing Moore of pursuing relationships with them while they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. One woman says she was 14 years old when Moore touched her sexually.

Moore has repeatedly denied the allegations of wrongdoing. 

The former state Supreme Court chief justice also claimed he “successfully completed a polygraph test confirming the representations of misconduct made against him during the campaign are completely false.”

Jones’s win means Republicans will have a 51-49 majority in the Senate.