Fact Check

Did Roy Moore Receive 953 Votes to Doug Jones' 5,327 in a Town of 1,867 Registered Voters?

A popular Facebook rumor contends that Alabama's December 2017 election showed major voting irregularities — but the claim is "satire."

Published Dec. 15, 2017

 (Rex Wholster / Shutterstock.com)
Image Via Rex Wholster / Shutterstock.com
Claim:
Roy Moore received 953 votes and Doug Jones 5,327 — in a town with just 1,867 registered voters.

On 14 December 2017 a rapidly-moving Facebook rumor appeared to claim that a high-profile Senate race in Alabama two days before, in which Republican pick Roy Moore (who lost the election) received 953 votes and Doug Jones earned 5,327 — in a town of just 1,867 registered voters:

roy moore received 953 votes

_9__Roy_Moore_received_953_votes__Doug_Jones_5_327____-_Pamela_Forristall

Early versions provided a name of the town (Bordalama), but most simply stated the purported tallies and nearly none of them had any corroborating information at all:

According to official tallies, Roy Moore received 953 votes in the small town. Doug Jones received 5,327. If the disparity in numbers isn’t enough to give you reason to smell something fishy, the population of the town should. There are 2,256 residents there and only 1,867 registered voters. In other words, more people voted for Doug Jones than even live in Bordalama.

Although the rumor spread like wildfire, most of its appearances didn't include a town name (and the ones that did include the town named "Bordalama," which does not exist) or any identifying details. The source of the claim was an article published by LadiesofLiberty.net, which mentioned the also nonexistent "State Election Board of Voting Integrity":

The State Election Board of Voting Integrity said early on that “more than a third” of Jones’ votes up to 11 a.m. looked suspicious — and with good reason. Many of them came from the small town of Bordalama, a rural community about 20 miles outside Birmingham.

According to official tallies, Roy Moore received 953 votes in the small town. Doug Jones received 5,327. If the disparity in numbers isn’t enough to give you reason to smell something fishy, the population of the town should. There are 2,256 residents there and only 1,867 registered voters. In other words, more people voted for Doug Jones than even live in Bordalama.

The claim was quickly picked up by other blogs, but without Ladies of Liberty's disclaimer:

PAY ATTENTION:

sat·ire ~ˈsaˌtī(ə)r
noun
the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, OR ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.
If you disagree with the definition of satire or have decided it is synonymous with “comedy,” you should really just move along ... Copyright © 2017 | Paid Liberal Trolls Of America

A Facebook page embedded at the end suggested that the fake news site is yet another linked to the Last Line of Defense, Our Land of the Free, and As American as Apple Pie — all sites with a stated mission of making conservative social media users look foolish by inducing them to spread outlandish lies.

Kim LaCapria is a former writer for Snopes.