What to do about Moore? Here are the GOP’S options

A growing number of Republican senators have called on Roy Moore to withdraw from the Alabama senate race after accusations of sexual misconduct from multiple women, several of whom said he harassed or assaulted them when they were under the age of consent.

But with the Dec. 12 special election less than a month away, there may not be much the Republican Party can do. Here are the options.

Could Moore be removed from the ballot?

No. Whatever happens, Moore’s name will be on the ballot. Names cannot be added to or removed from a ballot for any reason within 76 days of the election, said John Merrill, the Alabama secretary of state.

“Even if he withdrew formally or if the state party formally withdrew their support for him or if he passed away, he would still be on the ballot,” said Merrill, a Republican who has endorsed no one in the race. “If that happened today or if it happened the day before the election, he will still be on the ballot.”

The ballots have been printed and were distributed on Oct. 18, when absentee voting began in Alabama, Merrill said. That means it is likely that some votes for Moore have already been cast. “The election has long since started,” he said.

Could another candidate mount a write-in campaign?

In short, yes. Lisa Murkowski, the Republican senator from Alaska, was re-elected in 2010 after a write-in campaign, and met recently to discuss strategy with Luther Strange, the Republican who currently holds the Senate seat but lost a primary election to Moore.

Merrill said he believed no one had ever won a statewide write-in campaign in Alabama.

A write-in candidate has the built-in disadvantage of not being listed on the ballot. And there are prosaic concerns, as well, like spelling and penmanship. Voters would have to legibly write and correctly spell the candidate’s name in the appropri-