(Tyler Pruett | Southern Torch)
By Tyler Pruett, Managing Editor
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Today, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill ordered all counties in the state to count the write-in votes that were cast on election day last Tuesday. The Secretary of State's office issued a statement today:
"This decision on whether to count these ballots was made based on Act 2016-450 which provides, upon a determination that the number of write-in votes for Office of United States Senator is greater than or equal to the difference in votes between the two candidates receiving the greatest number of votes for the Office of United State Senator," the statement explained.
"Upon completion of the count of write-in votes," the statement continued, "the write-in votes are to be included in each county’s final canvass of results that will be certified to the Secretary of State on December 22, 2017."
The statement also explained that the final vote won't be certified, "until January 3, 2018, but this process could occur as early as December 26, 2017," and that "final certification will occur once the vote has been reviewed and certified by the State Canvassing Board (a board which consists of Governor Kay Ivey, Secretary of State John H. Merrill, and Attorney General Steve Marshall)."
Many voters chose to write-in a candidate, with 22,814 (1.7%) being reported in the state. But with 1.5 percent of the vote separating the two, Moore still would have come up short as of now. The difference between Moore and Jones' vote totals is currently at 20,634 votes, but as the Secretary of State's office points out, these numbers aren't final.
"Upon the introduction of UOCAVA ballots and approved provisional ballots, these numbers are subject to change," said the statement.
A poll conducted on our website between Friday, December 15 and December 18, shows that of 63 respondents, 79 percent believe that Moore should concede the race. 17 percent believe that he should wait until the vote is certified and another 3 percent said they had no opinion.
While the poll is not scientific, Moore did exceedingly well in DeKalb County and the surrounding counties, leading one to believe that Moore's own supporters believe it's time to move on.
