With the Alabama election looming, many Alabama residents grapple with how to vote in Tuesday’s election. By now, most people have heard about the allegations against Roy Moore, who is running for senator in Alabama. At least 9 women have come forward with their own stories of Moore sexually assaulting them, most of them when they were minors. The stories are highly disturbing; Leigh Corfman, who was the youngest of the women at only 14, describes a 32 year old Moore taking her to his house in the woods and touching her over her underwear. “I wanted it over with — I wanted out,” she remembers thinking, according to the Washington Post. “Please just get this over with. Whatever this is, just get it over.”

Many other women described Moore’s creepy behavior in the mall when they were teenagers, approaching them and asking them on dates while they were all underage. Debbie Wesson Gibson said she was 17 when Moore spoke to her high school civics class and asked her out on the first of many dates, although none went beyond kissing. Becky Gray remembers complaining to her manager at the mall that Moore wouldn’t leave her alone, and later hearing that he got banned from the mall. Kelly Harrison Thorp said that Roy Moore asked her out when she was 17 and he was in his 30s. She asked him if he knew how old she was and his response was: “‘Oh yeah, I go out with girls your age all the time,’” according to the Washington Post.

The fact that Moore was actively preying on girls as young as 14 when he was in his 30s is absolutely vile. It’s obvious that many people agree with this opinion, as he has lost the funding of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and every Republican senator except Rand Paul. The Democratic Party is also against Moore, although of course, they never backed him in the first place. The disturbing fact is that not only is Roy Moore still running, but he still has the support of many, and as of now he is actually up by about five points in the race against his opponent Doug Jones. Although there was a spike in Jones’s poll numbers right around the time that the allegations first came out, it appears as though, just like with the presidential election, voters have very short-term memories. Because Doug Jones believes that people deserve basic human rights and supports “liberal” issues like affordable health care, the right to choose, and believes that climate change is real, Alabama voters apparently think that an accused child predator is the better choice for senator.

Moore is also still backed by the Alabama Republican Party and Alabama Governor Kay Ivey (although grudgingly). President Trump has also refused to call for Moore to drop out of the race, and as of December 4th officially backs Moore. According to the New York Post, when asked Trump said, “I can tell you one thing for sure: We don’t need a liberal person in there, a Democrat…He’s run eight races, and this has never come up. So 40 years is a long time. The women are Trump voters; most of them are Trump voters. All you can do is, you have to do what you have to do. He totally denies it.” For one thing, that is extremely vague and doesn’t really end up making any point, other than he won’t condemn Moore. Also, the fact that Trump is making this yet another partisan issue instead of focusing on Roy Moore’s despicable actions is horrible and inconsiderate, yet not at all surprising. Then, in a tweet on Monday, Trump fully endorsed Moore. “Democrats refusal to give even one vote for massive Tax Cuts is why we need Republican Roy Moore to win in Alabama. We need his vote on stopping crime, illegal immigration, Border Wall, Military, Pro Life, V.A., Judges 2nd Amendment and more. No to Jones, a Pelosi/Schumer Puppet!”, according to CNN. And at the president’s urging, the Republican National Committee, which had withdrawn funding from Moore after the allegations first came out, restored its support for the candidate.

Everything about this situation is absolutely detestable. Thinking about what Moore allegedly did to those young girls makes me nauseous. The fact that people now know about this and are still supporting him just makes it even more disgusting. Roy Moore is potentially a child predator and has been accused of sexual harassment on multiple accounts, yet people still choose to vote for him just based on party lines, or because he is “a good Christian.” The republicans in Senate have mostly dropped their support of him, although as time passes some are lessening their criticism of him, yet the Alabama Republican Party, the RNC, the President of the United States (another person accused of sexual misconduct), and many Alabama voters still stand by him. It is understood that Alabama is a deep red state, but it is terrifying  that people would compromise their integrity and allow this man to continue running and possibly win just because of partisan politics.