CNN’s Alisyn Camerota: “Do Roy Moore’s claims of election fraud have any merit?”
Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill: “The short answer to that is no. Doug Jones will be certified today” https://t.co/ZXkfcsTrAq https://t.co/pQxRhhhYJ7— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) December 28, 2017
Roy Moore has been waiting for something, anything, to get his Senate bid back on track, even though he lost the Alabama Special Election weeks ago. He banked on overseas and provisional ballots, accusations of election fraud, and divine intervention, but none of his efforts to delay the secretary of state’s certification of Doug Jones have been successful. Now, even as Moore continues to howl over his defeat, Alabama is moving forward with Doug Jones.
This morning, when CNN’s Alisyn Camerota asked Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill if Roy Moore’s claims of election fraud had any merit, Merrill replied, “The short answer to that is no. Doug Jones will be certified today.” The election fraud angle was Moore’s latest last-ditch effort, taking a page from Trump’s playbook when he feelings were hurt by the loss of the popular vote to Hillary Clinton, although he entered the White House through the Electoral College. Moore has no such path to meet his Senate goal.
At 2:00pm EST, Doug Jones will be signed in to the Alabama Senate ahead of his January swearing in, which will take place with Vice President Mike Pence. But long after Jones is officially on the Hill, no doubt Moore will continue to protest, take polygraph tests, and ride his horse incorrectly.
UPDATE – 2:05pm EST: Alabama has certified Jones’ win as indicated.
LIVE: Alabama state officials certify Democrat Doug Jones' election victory. https://t.co/KAvFSzylVy https://t.co/KkGCsWZIYp
— ABC News (@ABC) December 28, 2017
(Via CNN)