Barack Obama urges Alabama voters to reject Republican candidate accused of child sex abuse

As part of a last-ditch effort by Democrats to win Alabama’s US Senate seat, former President Barack Obama is imploring Alabama voters to reject Roy Moore, the Republican candidate dogged by sexual misconduct allegations.

Along with Mr Obama, several other Democrats are also putting their weight behind Democratic candidate Doug Jones, while President Donald Trump encourages Alabamians to vote for Mr Moore.

With polls due to open on Tuesday morning, the Moore campaign has also rolled out a last-minute “robo-call” with Mr Trump’s voice telling voters that if they do not support the Republican candidate, progress on the President’s legislative agenda will be “stopped cold”.

The high-profile nature of the late appeals – with former Vice President Joe Biden also recording a message for Mr Jones – highlight the unpredictable nature of the race. A number of polls released on Monday all showed wildly different results. An automated poll from Emerson College showed Mr Moore with a nine-point advantage, while a poll from Fox News showed Mr Jones with a 10-point advantage. A Monmouth University Poll showed the race about even.

The sexual misconduct allegations against Mr Moore have given Democrats a rare opportunity in a deeply conservative state, which has sent Republicans to the Senate for the last 20 years. The race has also exposed rifts within the Republican party, with claims by several women that Mr Moore sexually assaulted or had inappropriate contact with them. One allegation claims he molested a 14-year-old when he was a prosecutor in his 30s. Mr Moore has vehemently denied all the allegations.

Mr Obama recorded a phone message in which he urges Alabamians to head to the polls on Tuesday. “This one’s serious. You can’t sit it out,” he says, according to CNN.

“Doug Jones is a fighter for equality, for progress,” Mr Obama says in the call. “Doug will be our champion for justice. So get out and vote, Alabama.”

Mr Moore has not made a public appearance in almost a week. Meanwhile, Mr Jones has covered thousands of miles across the state on the campaign trail, appearing with multiple prominent black politicians, including New Jersey Senator Cory Booker. Part of the Democrats’ strategy is to win over African American voters – a tougher challenge without Mr Obama’s name on the ballot.

As for Mr Jones, in a morning stop at a diner in Birmingham, he accused Mr Moore of disappearing during the campaign’s closing days and claimed the Republican wasn’t even in Alabama over the weekend.

“We’re making sure our message is getting across while Roy Moore hides behind whoever he’s hiding behind,” Mr Jones said.

Meanwhile, Mr Moore told a conservative talk radio show in Montgomery that he lamented the tone of the campaign and that he had been the recipient of vicious and unfounded attacks.

Also on Monday, an official quit the Republican National Committee (RNC) over its support for Mr Moore. Joyce Simmons, the GOP national committeewoman from Nebraska, emailed the 168-member governing body to inform them that she had tendered her resignation.

“I strongly disagree with the recent RNC financial support directed to the Alabama Republican Party for use in the Roy Moore race,” she wrote.

Ms Simmons adds that she wishes she could have continued her service “to the national Republican Party that I used to know well”.

The RNC had pulled support from Mr Moore after the allegations surfaced against him last month. But the organisation reversed that position once Mr Trump endorsed Mr Moore, citing the need for a Republican in the seat.

On Friday, Mr Trump told a cheering crowd in Pensacola, Florida – about 25 miles from the Alabama border – to “get out and vote for Roy Moore”.

“We cannot afford – this country, the future of this country – cannot afford to lose a seat in the very very close United States Senate,” he said.

But not all Republicans have been pushing for Alabamians to vote for the controversial candidate.

“The state of Alabama deserves better,” said Alabama Senator Richard Shelby in an interview with CNN. Mr Shelby was the last Democrat elected to the Senate in Alabama, before he switched to the Republican party in 1994. He has has been a prominent face in the state’s politics for 40 years.

“There’s a time, we call it a tipping point, and I think so many accusations, so many cuts, so many drip, drip, drip, when it got to the 14-year-old story, that was enough for me. I said, I can’t vote for Roy Moore,” Mr Shelby said.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has said that a victory for Mr Moore would be a “gift that keeps on giving for Democrats” in the 2018 midterm elections.

“It will define the 2018 election, at least 2018,” Mr Graham told CNN. “And to think you can elect Roy Moore without getting the baggage of Roy Moore is pretty naive. I wish he would’ve stepped aside.”