Senate votes to be certified Thursday

Published 4:49 pm Tuesday, December 26, 2017

The Alabama Secretary of State’s Office said in a statement Friday it will certify the results of Alabama’s U.S. Senate election on Thurs, Dec. 28.

The announcement came 10 days after Democratic Senate nominee Doug Jones edged out Republican nominee Roy Moore, and before any concession from Moore.

Jones defeated Moore on Dec. 12 by just under 21,000 votes – a 1.5 percent margin — in a race where more than 1.3 million ballots were cast. Moore refused to concede, with his campaign saying they wanted to see where military and provisional ballots would land. But the Secretary of State’s Office said those numbers came in well below Jones’ margin.

Moore has not conceded, but has solicited donations for a legal fund.

The State Canvassing Board — consisting of Gov. Kay Ivey; Attorney General Steve Marshall and Secretary of State John Merrill — will meet at 1 p.m. Thursday.

The 1.5 percent margin is not enough to trigger an automatic recount. State law does allow losing candidates to request a recount — if they pay for it — but it is not clear if state law allows that request to be made for federal elections.