By Benjamin Lemley|ALABAMA

BREAKING: John Merrill announces .5% figure is wrong. Says the actual margin is 1%… More to come

Tonight Doug Jones was predicted to have beaten Roy Moore in the Alabama Senate Special Election. With news outlets such as CNN, The New York Times, and even us here at 71 Republic (the first to call the race) confirming such.

At around 11:30 EST, the Chairman of the Roy Moore for Senate Campaign, Bill Armistead, came forward saying that “under the law, we need to wait for a recount.” Armistead followed up by stating that if the margin between Jones and Moore is under 0.5%, then there must be a mandatory recount. Armistead then called on the media to go to the Alabama Secretary of State later tonight to learn more details.

While Moore and his campaign asserts that a recount is a definite possibility, a mandatory one is not likely to happen. The Alabama Secretary of State tells us that until we are able to count the military ballots and write-ins, nothing can be determined. With all this is mind, almost every possibility is up in the air.

Information is limited at the moment, which means that we will be updating this post throughout the night to keep you, the viewer, informed.

Update (12:16 EST):

We can now confirm that the Alabama Secretary of State has said that a change in outcome of the election based on recount is “Very unlikely” despite claims made by Moore campaign chairmen.

Update (12:31 EST):

CNN has reported that under state law in Alabama the Governor has between December 26 to January 3 to certify election results or to announce a forced recount if votes are found to be within the .5% margin. The option of a payed recount is also on the table.

Update (01:09 EST):

Moore campaign silent on social media and otherwise since the address from campaign chairmen earlier tonight.

Update (07:40 EST):

This morning CNN is reporting that Jones holds a steady 1.5% lead.

Update (08:10 EST):

John Merrill has gone on record saying that he voted Moore.

Last Updated: 08:10 AM EST