Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill said Tuesday night "the people of Alabama have spoken" in the Senate race between Democrat Doug Jones and Republican Roy Moore, though Moore has refused to concede.

"The people of Alabama have spoken tonight. They've made their voice heard loud and clear," Merrill said on CNN.

The Associated Press called the election for Jones shortly before 10:30 p.m. EST. With all precincts reporting, Jones leads Moore by more than 20,000 votes.

"I think the most important thing to remember now is that the process needs to be followed to ensure that the integrity, the safety and security of the election is preserved," Merrill said.

Based on Alabama election law, Tuesday's election will be certified between Dec. 26 and Jan. 3, Merrill said.

Moore took the stage at his campaign event about 11:30 p.m., and refused to concede.

"It's not over," he said. "It's going to take some time."

Merrill said he's "not very comfortable" visiting Tuesday night with Moore or members of his campaign team.

He added that it's "highly unlikely" Jones won't be declared the winner.

"There's not a whole lot of mistakes that are made. There's not a whole lot of errors that occur," he said of the state's voting process.