Alabama Official to Certify Doug Jones' Senate Win Despite Roy Moore's Challenge

Doug Jones will be certified officially as Alabama's next senator Secretary of State John Merrill said Thursday, while declaring election fraud claims filed by defeated Republican candidate Roy Moore have no merit.

"Doug Jones will be certified at 2 p.m. central time, and [Attorney General] Steve Marshall and I will meet in the offices of the secretary of state, in the executive office, and we will sign the documents certifying him as the senator for the state of Alabama," Merrill told CNN's "New Day" co-host Alisyn Camerota. 

"He will be sworn in by Vice President [Mike] Pence on the third of January when the Senate returns."

When Camerota asked Merrill if Moore's fraud claims have any merit, he told her "the short answer to that is no."

Moore on Wednesday filed a lawsuit trying to block Jones' certification, submitting his complaint about 14 hours ahead of Thursday's certification. Jones won the Dec. 12 special election by about 20,000 votes, and Moore's attorney wrote in the complaint that he thinks there were irregularities during the contentious election.

Further, Moore's complaint calls for a fraud investigation and eventually a new election.

"This is not a Republican or Democrat issue as election integrity should matter to everyone," Moore said in a statement released Wednesday about the complaint.

Moore's loss came after several women accused him of abusing them sexually several years ago, when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s.

Merrill Thursday said that any citizen can file allegations of voter fraud they witnessed or observed, and they will be investigated, but in Moore's case, the claims are not substantiated.

Moore's attorneys said there was higher-than-expected turnout in the race, especially in Jefferson County, but Moore's numbers were suspiciously low in 20 precincts.

Moore has yet to concede the race to Jones and has sent fundraising emails asking for donations to investigate his voter fraud claims.

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