Live results: Alabama Senate race and exit polls

Watch here for live Alabama Senate special election results and exit polls

Republican Roy Moore, the embattled former chief justice on the state’s supreme court, and Democrat Doug Jones, a widely respected former U.S. attorney, are running for Jeff Sessions’ old Senate seat today in a special election that’s being watched closely across the country. 

Polls open at 8 a.m. ET and closed at 8 p.m. ET. That’s 7 a.m. local time and 7 p.m. local time. Polling in the race isn’t much of a predictor. It’s varied dramatically — as late as the eve of the election, one poll showed Moore up by 9 points, while another on the same day showed Jones up by 10. Higher turnout in the race would seem to benefit Jones, while lower turnout likely favors Moore. Alabama is a solidly Republican state, and the last time a Democrat won a Senate seat, it was 1992, and Richard Shelby, then a Democrat, later became a Republican. Should Moore win, the balance of the Senate will remain the same, with 52 Republicans and 48 Democrats. Should Jones win, the GOP majority will shrink to 51-49. 

Since he won the Republican nomination for Senate in September, he’s faced numerous reports of sexual misconduct, including accusations that he molested a 14-year-old girl when he was 32. Jones is best known for successfully prosecuting two KKK members for a 1962 church bombing in Birmingham, and for sending Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph to jail. But he’s also a pro-abortion liberal Democrat in a state that tends to abhor abortion, liberals, and Democrats.

Their closing arguments Monday boiled down to this:

Jones: “I’m not going to be the senator that everybody in the state can agree with 100 percent of the time,” and he added, “They’ll know I’m somebody that will sit down with them. I will learn from them….I will try to be the public servant I think a U.S. senator ought to be.” 

Moore: “If you don’t believe in my character, don’t vote for me.” 

Live updates below:

8:16 p.m. Does Doug Jones have the numbers?

CBS News Political Director Steve Chaggaris talks about whether Jones, at this point, has the votes to overcome Moore’s supporters. 

8 p.m. Polls close in Alabama — the race appears to be close

Polls have closed in Alabama. It will take a short period of time, however, for the first results to begin rolling in on the Alabama Secretary of State’s website. 

But the race appears to be close so far, as CBS News has been interviewing voters leaving the polling place throughout the day. 

7 p.m. Polls close in one hour

Voters in Alabama have one hour left to go to the polls. CBS News will begin reporting results as soon as they become available. 

6:48 p.m. McConnell holding meeting Wednesday to decide what to do if Moore wins

CBS News has confirmed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Senate leaders will meet Wednesday morning to discuss what to do after the election, if Moore wins. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, confirmed the meeting.

In the past, McConnell has said the Senate should launch an ethics investigation into Moore, while Sen. Cory Gardner, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, has said the Senate should expel him. 

6:28 p.m. Moore posts Trump robocall

Moore took to Twitter earlier in the afternoon to post the audio of the robocall Mr. Trump recorded on his behalf. 

“Hi, this is President Donald Trump, and I need Alabama to go vote for Roy Moore!” he says in the recorded call.

6:14 p.m. More exit poll results — voters evenly split on Trump’s job performance

In a state that overwhelmingly voted for Mr. Trump over Hillary Clinton just one year ago, Alabama voters do not see him as glowingly now. At this point, Alabama voters are split on the president’s job performance – 48 percent approve ant 48 percent disapprove. 

Both major political parties are viewed unfavorably by more than half of Alabama voters.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell isn’t popular either. Roughly 69 percent of voters view him unfavorably. 

5:51 p.m.: CBS News speaks with Alabama voters

CBS News spoke with some voters in Alabama, where, across the state, there was a steady stream of voters in small towns and big cities. 

Brenda McClusky proudly voted for Moore. 

McClusky said she always thought he was a good man, and doesn’t “pay attention” to much of the “talk” about him.

The Jones campaign has hoped to motivate young and African-American voters to elect the first Democrat to the Senate in a quarter century. 

Pastor Kenneth Glasgow told CBS News on Monday that he helped register first-time voters, saying they have a “chance” now.

The first exit polls are released, revealing Alabama voters divided on the validity of the allegations against Moore. More than four in 10 believe they are false. Most Jones voters believe the accusations, while most of Moore’s voters do not. 

For about 40 percent of voters, the allegations were the most important factor in their vote, mostly for Jones voters. Moore voters were more motivated by their support for Donald Trump. Early exit polling shows Jones supporters more staunchly behind their candidate than those behind Moore. 

Furthermore, most voters had already made up their minds by November – before the allegations against Moore surfaced. 

— Results from CBS News’ Jennifer DePinto 

4:50 p.m.: Roy Moore spokesman says Moore “probably” still believes homosexual conduct should be illegal

CNN’s Jake Tapper invited Ted Crockett, spokesman for the Moore campaign, on his show Tuesday, and asked if Moore still believes homosexual conduct should be illegal, as he did in 2005. At first, Crockett was unsure how to answer. Pressed again by Tapper, Crockett said Moore “probably” still believes that. Crockett was unable to answer how such behavior should be punished, if it were illegal. 

Crockett also suggested Muslims can’t serve in Congress because they would have to serve on a Christian Bible, even though doing so it not a legal requirement, as Tapper pointed out. Crockett said that Trump was sworn in on a Bible. 

4:26 p.m.: First exit polls expected soon

The first exit polls are expected to come as early as 5 p.m. Those will likely give some indication of voter sentiment and turnout. Until then, little information from voting will be available. 

3:59 p.m.: Clear skies expected for remainder of voting

Weather forecasts predict clear skies — and virtually no drops of rain — for most of the state, meaning weather shouldn’t hinder voters as they continue to head to the polls. The high in Montgomery is 57 degrees, and the high in Birmingham is 52 degrees. 

3:43 p.m.: Shelby won’t say who voted for — but it wasn’t Moore

Shelby, caught by reporters in the Russell basement, declined to say who he voted for earlier in the day. But whoever it was, it wasn’t Moore. 

 I know Roy Moore but I’ll tell you, I didn’t vote for him,” he said. 

3:15 p.m.: DHS monitoring election from Alabama

The Department of Homeland Security is keeping tabs on the Alabama Senate election. The DHS official in charge of protecting critical infrastructure said DHS officials are in Alabama, alongside state officials, monitoring for any cyber trouble with the election.

“We are side by side with state election officials ,”Christopher Krebs told reporters, adding that  DHS is on a “heightened posture.” 

Krebs stressed so far they have not detected any cyber issues.

2:15 p.m.: Voters think Senate should expel Moore if he wins 

A new Quinnipiac poll finds that voters overwhelmingly disapprove of Mr. Trump’s decision to endorse Moore in the election. Of those polled, 63 disapproved of the president’s endorsement, 21 percent approved and 16 percent were unsure. Even some Republicans disapproved of the president’s decision. Of the Republicans polled, 50 percent approved of the president’s endorsement, and an equal number disapproved or were unsure — 25 percent.

The same poll also found voters want Moore out of the Senate, if he’s elected. A total of 60 percent of voters said Moore should be expelled if he wins. Of Republicans, 25 percent said he should be expelled if he wins, 65 percent said he should be allowed to stay, and 10 percent were unsure. An overwhelming 86 percent of Democrats said he should be expelled. 

12:30 p.m.: Moore and his wife vote

Roy Moore and his wife, Kayla Moore, arrived at their polling place on horseback in Gallant, Ala., late Tuesday morning. They ride horses to each election in which Moore is a candidate.

9:15 a.m.: Jones casts his vote

Doug Jones cast his vote after 9 a.m. ET at Brookwood Baptist Church in Mountain Brook, Ala., a Birmingham suburb, and he also plans to greet voters outside various polling locations around Alabama. After the polls close, he’ll join supporters for an Election Night watch party in Birmingham. He told reporters afterward that he didn’t think Moore would win. In Alabama, there’s a saying, he said: “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Alabama’s not going to let that shame happen again.”

A little over an hour after polls opened, President Trump tweeted that the people of Alabama “will do the right thing,” and he attacked Democrat Doug Jones as “Pro-Abortion, weak on Crime, Military and Illegal Immigration, Bad for Gun Owners and Veterans and against the WALL.” He called Jones “a Pelosi/Schumer Puppet” and declared that “Roy Moore will always vote with us.”

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