On Monday, a second woman, Beverly Young Nelson, accused Judge Roy Moore of sexual assault when Nelson was 14 and Moore an adult in his 30s. This is similar to the timeframe established by the previous accuser.

Shortly thereafter, the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Cory Gardner, said that he would support the expulsion of Moore by the senate, should the people of Alabama elect Moore for the Senate seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

While constitutional, as Politico’s Steven Shepard noted, an expulsion attempt of a directly elected senator has never succeeded.

There is little the Senate Republicans or the Alabama Republican Party could do to affect the special election and still win. For his part, Moore, the duly certified Republican Party nominee, shows no signs of backing out, even amid the new accusations and chorus of calls for him to do so.

Despite some initial confusion last week when the news broke of a woman accusing Moore of sexual misconduct, there is no way for Moore’s name to be taken off the Dec. 12 general election ballot, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill told the Washington Examiner. The ballot was certified on Oct. 18 and “a lot of people have already voted,” explained Merrill.

However, despite Alabama’s “sore loser” law, write-in votes for Moore’s primary challengers would be counted, Merrill told the Examiner. But would a write-in candidacy do anything but elect a Democrat?

In the event the state and/or national party backs a Republican write-in candidate, it’s very likely that such a move would split the vote between likely Republican voters who think the accusations are disqualifying and those who outright don’t believe the accusations — providing the Democrats a significant advantage.

If Moore wins the Dec. 12 election, after he is sworn in, the case could be sent to the Senate Select Committee on Ethics for its own investigation into the matter. The committee would then vote whether or not to recommend Moore for expulsion. If the committee votes to recommend expulsion, the matter would go to the full Senate.

According to Article II of the Constitution, the threshold to remove a member of either chamber of Congress is a two-thirds majority. If successful, the seat would again be vacated in Alabama and start the special-election process all over again. State Gov. Kay Ivey would also appoint a person to fill the vacant seat on an interim basis.

According to the U.S. Senate website, the Senate has considered expulsion 30 times and voted to expel 15 members. Fourteen members were expelled for supporting the Confederacy and one for “anti-Spanish conspiracy.” Of the remaining 15, five resigned before action could be taken, one had his term expire, and nine had no action taken or were not expelled.

Since the adoption of the 17th Amendment in 1913, there has not been a vote in favor of expulsion in the United States Senate.

The Senate Select Committee on Ethics has previously recommended expulsion for members without conviction for crimes, such as in the sexual misconduct and abuse-of-power case against Oregon Sen. Bob Packwood.

In other cases, it has not acted — most notably when Sen. Edward Kennedy pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident in which Mary Jo Kopechne died after Kennedy drove off a bridge in Chappaquiddick. Nor has the Senate taken action on the corruption charges currently facing Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J.

It would be constitutional for the Senate to vote to expel Roy Moore should he win the election. That course of action would be extraordinary, especially since the people who vote in the election would have had the time to weigh the information from Moore’s accusers before casting their votes. (For more from the author of “Could the Senate Really Expel Roy Moore After the Election?” please click HERE)

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A political firestorm has kicked off in the Alabama special Senate election.

According to a report at the The Washington Post Thursday, a woman says GOP nominee Roy Moore sexually assaulted her in 1979 when she was 14 and he was 32. Two other women told the Post that Moore pursued them decades ago when they were underage.

Moore denied the report, calling it “garbage,” “fake news,” and “intentional defamation.”

Sens. Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, and others called for Moore to step aside if the allegations are true. “However, we need to know the truth,” Cruz added, “and Judge Moore has the right to respond to these accusations.”

Sen. Rob Portman said he believes the allegations at face value because the accusers identified themselves on the record, and Sen. John McCain called the allegations alone “disqualifying.”

Many readers are wondering what this means for the Alabama race. Moore’s name cannot be removed from the Dec. 12 special election ballot, according to Alabama law. AL.com reporter Christopher Harress quoted this section of the code in his Thursday report:

“Any amendment filed after the 76th day before a primary or a general election shall be accepted by the judge of probate or the Secretary of State but shall not be cause for reprinting of the ballots,” according to the statute.”

The name of a candidate who is the subject of the amendment and who is disqualified by a political party or who has withdrawn as a candidate shall remain on the ballot, not be replaced by the name of another candidate, and the appropriate canvassing board shall not certify any votes for the candidate.”

If the Republican Party chooses to remove Moore as the party’s candidate, any votes he receives would not be certified under the law, according to a report citing John Bennett, deputy chief of staff for the Alabama secretary of state’s office.

Initial reports suggested that current Sen. Luther Strange and Rep. Mo Brooks (Moore’s challengers in the GOP Senate primary) would both be ineligible as write-in candidates in the special election. However according to an Alabama Secretary of State press release, Brooks and Strange would be eligible as write-in candidates.

The allegations against Moore are deeply troubling, as are the obscene, partisan attempts to minimize or justify child molestation.

The only acceptable defense is the truth, and right now, only Roy Moore and his accusers know for sure what that is.

Every American, and especially every Alabama voter, has a moral obligation to trust but verify. We have a duty to put politics aside, scrutinize the facts, hold true to our principles, and as always, seek truth and justice. (For more from the author of “Alabama, Roy Moore, and the Truth” please click HERE)

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