After Democratic candidate Doug Jones won the Alabama Senate race by a slim 1.5% margin on Tuesday, Republican Roy Moore mentioned the possibility of a recount during a late night speech before a crowd of supporters:
I really want to thank you for coming tonight and realize when the vote is this close, that it’s not over. And we still got to go by the rules about this recount provision, and Secretary of State has explained it to us and we’re expecting that the press will go up there and talk to them to find out what the situation is.
… the votes are still coming in, and we’re looking at that. May God bless you as you go on, give you safe journey, and thank you for coming tonight. It’s not over and it’s going to take some time. Thank you. Thank you, thank you. Let’s go home, we’ll take it on tomorrow.
Nearly four days later, and even after a call from President Trump to concede, Moore is still swinging. In a recent email to supporters, Moore solicited donations for an “election integrity fund,” according to The Hill.
…the battle is NOT OVER! You see, military and provisional ballots haven’t yet been counted by the Secretary of State’s office.
Without those ballots…this race is too close to call. Not only that, but we have received reports of voter fraud and other irregularities at polling locations throughout the state.
…My campaign team is busy collecting numerous reported cases of voter fraud and irregularities for the Secretary of State’s office.
Moore is pinning his hopes not only on potential fraud, but on provisional and military ballots that have yet to be counted. If the 1.5% margin between Moore and Jones shrinks to 0.5% or less after the additional ballots are tallied, an automatic recount would be triggered, per Alabama state law. If not, Moore would have to pay for a recount himself