With just a little over a month before the Alabama Senate election, allegations of sexual assault against candidate Judge Roy Moore going back decades have placed his candidacy in doubt. Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has asked the two-time Alabama Chief Justice to step aside if the allegations are true, leaving Alabamians and others across the nation asking what would happen if Moore were to step down.



While many might think that the obvious replacement to Moore running against Democrat Doug Jones On Dec. 12 would be his Alabama GOP runoff rival and incumbent of the Senate seat Luther Strange, they'd be wrong.

Moore cannot be replaced on the ballot.

Alabama law prohibits the replacement of a party candidate up to 76 days before the election.



"Any amendment filed after the 76th day before a primary or a general election shall be accepted by the judge of probate or the Secretary of State but shall not be cause for reprinting of the ballots," according to the statute. "The name of a candidate who is the subject of the amendment and who is disqualified by a political party or who has withdrawn as a candidate shall remain on the ballot, not be replaced by the name of another candidate, and the appropriate canvassing board shall not certify any votes for the candidate."

While the law may appear confusing as to what can be done, John Bennett, a spokesman for the Alabama secretary of state's office told the Washington Post Thursday that he believed "it was too late" to replace Moore on the ballot.

And while some may suggest that Strange should run as a third party or mount a write-in campaign. There's reason to believe that may be unlawful as well.



In fact, a 2014 memorandum written by Luther Strange, who was the Alabama Attorney General at the time, states that a political candidate may only get "one opportunity to run for an elected position in any given year."

In addition, "it prevents a candidate from having his or her name placed on a general election ballot as an independent in the same year he or she lost in the party primary," said the memo.



The memo deals specifically with the names printed on the ballot. It remains unclear if the law prohibits a write-in campaign for Strange.

The allegations in the Washington Post Thursday contend that Moore groomed a 14 year-old child before sexually assaulting her mutiple times in 1979. Moore, then 32, was an assistant district attorney.

Three additional women who were teenagers at the time have also accused Moore of pursuing them, but said Moore did not attempt to initiate sexual conduct with them.