Alabama Senate race likely won’t be certified until late December

Alabama’s closely watched Dec. 12 special Senate election will likely not be certified until late December at the earliest, a state election official said Friday.

Reuters reported that the results of the election will be certified by Dec. 26 at the earliest, meaning that it is not likely to affect key year-end GOP legislation.

Congressional Republicans and President Trump have said that they want to pass tax reform by the year’s end. But the GOP holds a slim majority in the Senate, and can only afford two Republican defections if they hope to pass such a measure.

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That means that a potential Democratic victory in Alabama’s Senate election would not likely hurt Republicans’ chances of getting such legislation through.

Alabama is considered a reliably red state. But the race has been thrown into uncertainty over the past week, after allegations emerged that GOP candidate Roy Moore sought sexual and romantic relations with teenage girls when he was in his 30s.

Moore has denied most of the allegations, and has resisted calls from Republican lawmakers and officials to withdraw his Senate bid. Still, his Democratic opponent Doug Jones has seen a boost in the polls, making a potential Democratic victory a possibility.

After the Dec. 12 election, counties must report official results by Dec. 22, though the chief of staff for Alabama’s secretary of State said some of the counties are likely to miss that deadline, according to Reuters. Consequently, the process would likely be pushed back until after Christmas.

The winner would then be sworn in during an open session of the Senate. But because lawmakers are set to recess the last week of December, the winner would not be sworn in until early January.