Roy Moore Files Complaint, Seeking To Delay Certification Of Vote

Alabama Republican Roy Moore has filed an election complaint to block certification of the Senate vote he narrowly lost early this month, alleging that election fraud occurred that was "sufficient to overturn the outcome of the election" and calling for an investigation."Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill says his office has found no evidence of voter fraud," Andrew Yeager of member station WBHM reports. "The lawsuit also says Moore has taken a polygraph test which shows allegations of sexual misconduct against him are false."The controversial former judge lost to Democrat Doug Jones on Dec. 12, in a race that was marked by numerous allegations that Moore was guilty of having sexual contact or inappropriate relationships with teenage girls when he was in his 30s. The special election was held to replace Jeff Sessions, who left the Senate to serve as President Trump's attorney general.More than two weeks after the vote, Moore has still not conceded the election to his opponent. In addition to the court filing, Moore is asking his supporters to call Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and Attorney General Steve Marshall and ask them to delay certification of the vote.Announcing his last-ditch challenge, Moore said that three election integrity experts had found evidence of fraud. One of the experts he quoted is a self-described JFK conspiracy theorist and election analyst named Richard Charnin, who said that the outcome in some Alabama precincts had a "less than one in 15 billion" chance of occurring naturally.Moore lost the election by more than 20,000 votes, with Jones winning by a gap of 1.5 percentage points — 49.9 to 48.4.Alabama's State Canvassing Board is scheduled to meet today at 2 p.m. ET to certify the results of the special election. Copyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org/.