On Tuesday night, alleged pedophile Judge Roy Moore became the first Republican in 25 years to lose a senatorial race to a Democrat in the state of Alabama, and it appears this result might be too shocking for Moore to accept. Despite most major news outlets declaring Democrat Doug Jones the winner well before midnight, Moore delivered a two-minute speech declining to concede to a crowd of supporters in Montgomery.
The judge insisted that the race was still not over since there were still votes left to be counted and subsequently implied that he might seek a recount.
“We still got to go by the rules about this recount provision and the secretary of state has explained it to us and we’re expecting that the press will go up there and talk to them to find out what the situation is,” he said.
In Alabama, recounts are mandatory when there is a margin of 0.5% or less between candidates. At the time of this writing, Jones leads More by 1.5% — nearly 21,000 votes — with 100% of the state’s precincts having reported their totals.
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Since the margin is currently higher than 0.5%, the state would not pay for a recount effort, meaning Moore would have to pay for it himself. Unfortunately for Moore, even if he were willing to pay the costs, it looks like he might not be allowed to pay for a recount to begin with, as Alabama law forbids individuals who have sought federal office to pay for them.
Other Republicans seem to have accepted Moore’s loss and show no intentions of supporting a recount. “While we are deeply disappointed in the extremely close U.S. Senate election results, with our candidate Judge Roy Moore, we respect the voting process given to us by our Founding Fathers,” said Alabama Republican Party Chairman Terry Lathan in a statement.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee slammed Moore for refusing to accept the election results. “Roy Moore won’t concede; says will wait on God to speak,” he wrote in a tweet. “God wasn’t registered to vote in AL but the ppl who voted did speak and it wasn’t close enough for recount. In elections everyone does NOT get a trophy. I know first hand but it’s best to exit with class.”
Alabama Republican party says the race "has ended," and they will not back Moore's recount efforts. Full statement from Tuesday night >> https://t.co/l2QIVtSDL5
— Christina Wilkie (@christinawilkie) December 13, 2017
Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill said it was “highly unlikely” that Jones wouldn’t be certified as winner of the senatorial race.
“The people of Alabama have spoken tonight,” he said in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper. “They’ve made their voice heard loud and clear. The most important thing to remember now is the process needs to be followed to ensure that the integrity, the safety and security of the election is preserved.” He added that “there’s not a whole lot of mistakes that are made” with the equipment used for the election process.
Once Jones is sworn in, the GOP’s majority advantage in the senate will be narrowed to 51-49.
