Roy Moore Files Official Complaint to Block Results of Alabama Special Election

Updated December 28, 2017:

Roy Moore has filed a complaint surrounding Alabama's special election, CNN reports. In it, the former Senate candidate is alleging voter fraud in the December 12 election, and he is asking for the certification of Doug Jones's seat to be delayed.

CNN notes that the complaint was detailed in a press release from the Moore campaign. In the document, campaign officials suggest that certification should be held until "a thorough investigation of potential election fraud" takes place.

Moore's latest actions aren't entirely surprising, given that the candidate refused to concede after Jones became the projected winner. The day after the election (December 13), he issued a statement about his decision, which was filled with anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ language.

Nevertheless, it would seem as though Moore's latest attempt to block the results might be futile. While appearing on CNN's New Day today, December 28, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill suggested that he still plans to certify Jones as the official winner in the Senate race. Of Moore's last-minute challenge, Merrill quipped: "Will this affect anything? The short answer is no."

Previously:

After a controversial race, Alabama has elected Democrat Doug Jones as its new senator.

In a special election on December 12, voters elected Jones to fill a Senate seat once held by now-Attorney General Jeff Sessions. CNN projected Jones as the winner around 10:30 (EST), a few hours after polls closed in Alabama.

The race was a toss up the entire evening. According to CNN, early exit polls showed the voter turnout as 65% white, 30% black, and 3% Latinx. Moore and Jones took the lead at various times throughout, and it was a clear tie around 10:22 p.m. (EST). But just minutes later, Jones was the projected winner.

Women voters came out in droves. Early exit polls showed that both white college-educated women (57%) and black women (97%) voted for Jones. White people — who make up 66% of Alabama voters — chose Moore, with over 60% of white women selecting the Republican candidate.

Jones' election is a big win for Democrats. Not only did he triumph in a red state, his election means Republicans now only hold a two-person majority in the Senate. Prior to the vote, it was reported that a win for Jones would require a large turnout from the black community — no easy feat in a state where voter identification laws disproportionately bar black and Latinx people from voting.

Also prior to the vote, Moore was accused of having had sexual relationships with girls as young as 14 when he was much older, including the sexually assault of a 16-year-old when he was in his 30s. Moore won President Donald Trump's support, despite the allegations against him. Trump tweeted on Tuesday morning in support of the candidate, positioning Jones as a "puppet" of Democratic leadership.

"The people of Alabama will do the right thing. Doug Jones is Pro-Abortion, weak on Crime, Military and Illegal Immigration, Bad for Gun Owners and Veterans and against the WALL. Jones is a Pelosi/Schumer Puppet. Roy Moore will always vote with us. VOTE ROY MOORE!" Trump wrote. After the election results were announced, the president congratulated Jones in a tweet.

Though Jones was declared the winner of the Alabama Senate race, Moore hasn't given up. According to CBS News, Moore refused to cede the Senate race on Tuesday night after the results were called. Typically, a candidate will call the declared winner of the election shortly after the results are announced, officially congratulating the winner and acknowledging their loss, but Moore has reportedly yet to do so, and has hinted he may contest the results and call for a recount.

According to CBS News, Jones won the election with about 49.9% of the vote, while Moore got about 48.4%. The Washington Post points out that Jones's about 1.5% lead over Moore is three times the margin that would trigger an automatic recount.

CBS News reports any candidate can request a recount, as long as they pay for it themselves.

Time reports the election results will be certified between December 26 and January 3. There is no set date for Jones's swearing in.

According to CBS News, Jones, a former prosecutor, is best known for prosecuting two KKK members for the 1963 Birmingham church bombing that killed four black girls, and for jailing Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph.

Just prior to the election, Jones said he knows not all of his constituents will agree with him, but he's willing to learn from them.

"I'm not going to be the senator that everybody in the state can agree with 100 percent of the time," and he added, "They'll know I'm somebody that will sit down with them. I will learn from them....I will try to be the public servant I think a U.S. senator ought to be."

Related: What to Know About Roy Moore Before the Senate Elections