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Voters In Alabama Split As They Go To Polls To Decide State's Next U.S. Senator

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

At some point tonight, we should know who will be Alabama's next U.S. senator, filling the seat that opened when Jeff Sessions became attorney general. The Republican candidate, Roy Moore, was thought to be a shoo-in until reports last month of allegations from several women who say Moore was either inappropriate with them or sexually assaulted them as teenagers. Moore's opponent, Doug Jones, is trying to become the first Democratic U.S. senator to be elected from Alabama in 25 years.

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

Voters in Alabama are split, and so are some families. Thirty-three-year-old Kimberly Pettit (ph) of Birmingham says she voted for Jones.

KIMBERLY PETTIT: He's a good, decent man. He's had zero scandals. You know, he's been a church man his whole life. He comes from a blue-collar family. You know, and there's been way too many embarrassments coming from Roy Moore - way too many. And I'm tired of the state of Alabama being an embarrassment. So go Doug Jones.

MCEVERS: Her 70-year-old father, Russ Pettit (ph), voted for Moore.

RUSS PETTIT: Innocent until proven guilty. He went 40 years without any scandals, and then all of a sudden before the election, here come all these people popping out of the woodwork. Maybe he did something 40 years ago. And if he did, he was a different person then. But right now I think it's all political.

MCEVERS: And thanks to WBHM for those interviews. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.