Votes for Mickey Mouse, football coach Nick Saban and “any other Republican” were among more than 22,000 write-ins in the Alabama Senate election the Democrat Doug Jones won this month by a little less than that number. 
 
 Profile Who is Doug Jones? Show Hide Early life The 63-year-old grew up in the working-class city of Fairfield, just west of Birmingham, an area once dominated by the steel industry. His father was a steelworker and he spent time working in a mill when not in school Democratic roots and the KKK Jones got his start in government as an aide to the last Democrat to serve a full term in the Senate from Alabama, the late Howell Heflin. Years before running for the Senate himself, Jones became known for prosecuting two KKK members for the bombing of Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist church in 1963 which killed four black girls. After his appointment as US attorney in Birmingham in 1997, Jones led a team of federal and state attorneys during trials that resulted in the convictions of Thomas Blanton Jr in 2001 and Bobby Frank Cherry in 2002. Photograph: Marvin Gentry/X02859 
 
 Controversy surrounding Roy Moore, the first Republican to lose a Senate race in Alabama in 25 years, prompted the high number of write-ins: 22,852 in total, or 1.6% of the 1.3 million who voted. 
 
 
 
 Moore, a controversial rightwing hardliner who was endorsed by Donald Trump despite allegations of sexual misconduct towards a number of teenage women, received 651,969 votes. 
 
 Alabama certifies Doug Jones Senate victory as Roy Moore challenge fails Read more 
 
 Jones, who was certified as the winner this week after a legal challenge from Moore alleging widespread voter fraud and casting doubt on high turnout among African Americans, received 673,891 ballots: 21,922 more than Moore. 
 
 The outgoing Republican senator, Luther Strange, who was appointed to the post vacated by Trump attorney general Jeff Sessions but lost the primary to Moore, was the top write-in candidate in most counties. 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Democrat Doug Jones, who won the special US Senate election in Alabama. Photograph: Marvin Gentry/Reuters 
 
 State officials did not tally statewide numbers of write-ins but numbers submitted by counties showed that Strange received more than 7,500 votes, roughly a third of the write-in total. 
 
 Many such ballots followed the recommendation of the serving Alabama senator Richard Shelby, who said shortly before the vote he could not vote for Moore and would instead write in the name of another Republican. 
 
 Strange was followed by Lee Busby, a retired Marine colonel and former aide to White House chief of staff John Kelly, who was the top write-in candidate in at least 10 counties. Other names frequently written in included Sessions and Saban, the successful and revered University of Alabama football coach. 
 
 Quick guide Gay bans and praise for Putin: the world according to Roy Moore Show Hide Homosexuality should be illegal In 2005, Moore said: “Homosexual conduct should be illegal.” In an interview televised on C-Span, Moore added: “It is immoral. It is defined by the law as detestable.” During a debate in September 2017, he went out of his way to bemoan the fact that “sodomy [and] sexual perversion sweep the land”. September 11 attacks as divine punishment In a speech in February, Moore appeared to suggest that the terrorist attacks of September 11 were the result of divine retribution against the United States and prophesized in the Book of Isaiah. In comments first reported by CNN, Moore quoted Isaiah 30:12-13, saying: “Because you have despised His word and trust in perverseness and oppression, and say thereon ... therefore this iniquity will be to you as a breach ready to fall, swell out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instance.” Moore then noted: “Sounds a little bit like the Pentagon, whose breaking came suddenly at an instance, doesn’t it?” He added: “If you think that’s coincidence, if you go to verse 25: ‘There should be up on every high mountain and upon every hill, rivers and streams of water in the day of the great slaughter when the towers will fall.’" Praise for Putin In an interview with the Guardian in August, Moore praised Putin for his views on gay rights. “Maybe Putin is right. Maybe he’s more akin to me than I know.” The comments came after Moore suggested the United States could be described as “the focus of evil in the world” because “we promote a lot of bad things”. Moore specifically named gay marriage as one of those “bad things”. 
 
 'Reds and yellows’ At a rally earlier in September, Moore talked about “reds and yellows fighting” while discussing racial division in the United States. Moore justified this on Twitter by citing lyrics from the song Jesus Loves the Little Children. He wrote “Red, yellow, black and white they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world. This is the Gospel.” Tracking livestock is communism In 2006, Moore condemned a proposal for a national ID system for animals as “more identifiable with communism than free enterprise”. The proposal received attention after a cow in Alabama had been diagnosed with mad cow disease. Moore, who was then running for governor, was skeptical that the outbreak was real. Instead, Moore suggested it was a ruse intended to promote the tracking system. 
 
 
 
 State officials stressed ahead of the election that voters had to write-in the name of a living person in order for the vote to be tallied. That did not stop votes for Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Snoopy, SpongeBob SquarePants, Ronald Reagan, Jesus and “UR Mom”. There was also a vote for Sassy, the name of the horse Moore rode to the polls. 
 
 At least one person voted by write-in for Leigh Corfman, one of the women who raised an allegation against Moore, who is 70, about behaviour said to have taken place when he was in his 30s. Moore denied all such allegations. 
 
 Play Video 1:06 Leigh Corfman on her encounter with Roy Moore at age 14 - video 
 
 Other voters voted for another woman, Dianne Bentley, who divorced former Alabama governor Robert Bentley amid accusations that he was having an affair with an aide. 
 
 ||||| MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Mickey Mouse. Nick Saban. Any Other Republican. 
 
 Those were some of the names that got write-in votes in the Alabama Senate election as voters suggested their own alternatives to Sen.-elect Doug Jones and Republican Roy Moore. 
 
 An unusually high number of voters — 22,852 people, or 1.6 percent of the 1.3 million people who went to the polls — opted for a write-in candidates, sometimes showing their humor and frustration along the way. "Anyone Else," ''Neither," and "Any Other Republican" were among the written submissions. 
 
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 Many of the submission were more serious as some voters followed the lead of Sen. Richard Shelby, who said he could not vote for Moore and was instead writing in the name of another Republican. 
 
 Outgoing Sen. Luther Strange, who was appointed to the post, but lost the GOP primary to Moore, was the top write-in candidate in a majority of counties. State election officials did not tally statewide numbers on write-in candidates, but numbers submitted by counties showed that Strange received more than 7,500 votes — roughly a third of the write-in ballots. 
 
 Related: Alabama makes Jones win official as Moore’s last-ditch challenge fails 
 
 He was followed by retired Marine Col. Lee Busby, former aide to White House chief of staff John Kelly. He was the top vote-getter in at least 10 counties. 
 
 Other names frequently listed as write-ins were Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Saban, the University of Alabama football coach. 
 
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 Alabama election officials stressed ahead of the election that voters had to write-in the name of a living person in order for the vote to be tallied. That did not stop votes for Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Snoopy, SpongeBob Square Pants, Ronald Reagan, Jesus and UR Mom. 
 
 Moore was dogged throughout the election by accusations of sexual misconduct with teens several decades ago when he was a prosecutor in his 30s. At least one person voted by write-in for Leigh Corfman, one of the women who first raised an allegation against Moore. 
 
 Someone else voted for Sassy, the name of the horse that Moore rides to the polls on Election Day. 
 
 Roy Moore rides his horse, Sassy, to cast his vote at the polling location on Dec. 12, 2017 in Gallant, Alabama. Joe Raedle / Getty Images 
 
 Other voters gave nods to another woman they perceived as being wronged in the world of state politics: Dianne Bentley, who divorced former Gov. Robert Bentley amid accusations that he was having an affair with an aide, got at least three write-in votes. ||||| Senator-elect Doug Jones will use a personal Bible when he is sworn into the Senate later this week. 
 
 Jones will use a family Bible during the ceremony, a spokesman told The Hill. AL.com first reported the news. 
 
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 The ceremony is scheduled to take place on Wednesday in Washington. Vice President Pence will administer the oath that allows Jones to begin his senatorial duties. 
 
 Jones's family and friends will also attend the swearing in event. 
 
 Jones is the first Democrat in decades to win a Senate race in Alabama, a state that reliably votes Republican. He defeated Republican Roy Moore Roy Stewart MooreGOP worries Blankenship surge will cost party W. Va. Senate seat Hannity, Kimmel feud over Melania Trump joke Five lawmakers facing tough primary races MORE, who faced allegations of sexual misconduct. 
 
 A handful of women publicly accused Moore of pursuing sexual relationships with them while they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. One woman says she was 14 years old when Moore touched her sexually. 
 
 While Moore repeatedly denied the accusations, he was unable to overcome them in the December vote. 
 
 Jones's victory will further narrow Republican control in the Senate to a slim majority of 51 to 49.
– On Wednesday Vice President Mike Pence will officially welcome Doug Jones into the U.S. Senate, bringing to an end one of the strangest and most controversial elections in recent memory, the Hill reports. And while Jones' former opponent, Roy Moore, is still refusing to concede the race, Alabama state election officials have released information about the more than 22,000 write-in votes that helped to dash his hopes. The man Moore beat in the Republican primary, Luther Strange, got some small revenge, beating all other write-in candidates with 7500 votes, the Guardian reports. Meanwhile, Lee Busby, a former aide to current White House Chief of Staff John Kelly who was running as an independent, won the write-in battle in at least 10 counties. Other fantasy candidates, such as Attorney General Jeff Sessions, whose seat Jones and Moore were vying to fill, and University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban won votes, as did Leigh Corfman, one of the women who accused Moore of trying to instigate an sexual relationship with her when she was just a teenager. And so did Sassy, the horse Moore rode to the polls on Election Day. Some voters vented their frustration with the race by writing in "Neither" and "Any Other Republican," NBC News reports, while others threw their support behind celebrities, both human and animated, like Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, SpongeBob Square Pants, Ronald Reagan, and even Jesus. Unfortunately, Alabama election law requires candidates to be living persons in order for write-in ballots to count.