Roy Moore says he wants Alabama's secretary of state to delay certification of the state's US Senate race results, pending an investigation into what his campaign called "election fraud."

Moore alleges fraud contributed to his defeat in the December 12 election, in which his Democratic opponent, Doug Jones, beat him by more than 20,000 votes.

Alabama officials are scheduled to meet Thursday to certify the results.



A complaint filed on behalf of the Roy Moore campaign alleges that "election fraud" contributed to Moore's loss in the US Senate race in Alabama. A statement posted on the Moore campaign's Facebook page late Wednesday night called on the Alabama secretary of state to delay certification of the election results until the claim could be investigated.

Moore lost the December 12 election to his Democratic opponent, Doug Jones, by more than 20,000 votes, but he has refused to concede. Alabama officials are scheduled to certify the election results on Thursday.

Moore's statement alleges that "election integrity experts" concluded "with a reasonable degree of statistical and mathematical certainty" that some level of fraud contributed to his defeat.

The Alabama Senate election ended on the heels of a scandal in which multiple women accused Moore of various levels of sexual misconduct they said occurred when he was in his 30s and they were as young as 14 years old.

Moore had offered conflicting statements about his accusers — at points acknowledging that he had known some of the women and then later saying he did not.

Jones, a career prosecutor once considered a long-shot candidate in deep red Alabama, raised over $10 million in the final weeks of a race that remained close, despite the firestorm surrounding Moore.

Additionally, Democratic coalitions invested considerable resources to mobilize the state's African-American voters and suburban white voters with whom Moore had fallen out of favor amid the sexual-misconduct allegations. Once the election results are certified, Jones will become the first Democrat in more than two decades to hold a US Senate seat in the state.