By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
Secretary of State John Merrill announced on Friday, Dec. 22, that the Alabama State Canvassing Board will meet Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017, at 1 p.m. in the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office to certify the results of the 2017 Special Election for U.S. Senator.
The State Canvassing Board is the state entity that reviews and certifies the results of Alabama’s state and federal elections. This board consists of Gov. Kay Ivey, Attorney General Steve Marshall, along with Merrill.
The Canvassing Board is expected to certify Clinton-era U.S. Attorney Doug Jones as the winner of Dec. 12’s special U.S. Senate election. At this point, GOP candidate Roy Moore has not conceded.
The media will be in attendance.
Doug Jones will be first Democrat to represent Alabama in the U.S. Senate since Howell Heflin retired in 1997.
Jones said that he can work across the aisle. “I can work with the President… & when I talk about reaching across the aisle there’s probably a fair amount of issues that I want to reach inside the Dem caucus… to make sure they know the people of Alabama might need a little bit of a different direction,” Jones said.
Jones’s victory is expected to make it harder for President Donald Trump to pass his agenda and get his judicial appointments confirmed. Trump had endorsed appointed Sen. Luther Strange in the GOP Primary; but Strange lost the Republican runoff to Moore. Moore lost to Jones after national Republicans led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., refused to endorse or support the conservative Moore.
