What's the legal ramifications of conceding a race?

November 8, 2006 5:13 PM

What's the legal ramifications of conceding a race?

How much legal weight does conceding a race actually mean? How much legal weight is it if you stnad in front of a podium and say, "Congrats other dude, you win."

If you concede a race and they discover a bunch of mail-in ballots didn't get counted and you have the greatest # of votes after all, are you screwed after you concede? Or is it some appearance thing - you can't go back on your word (not tat any other politican has ever done that ;-)

posted by jbelkin to Law & Government (7 answers total)

I recall having read about this -- perhaps on this very site! -- following one of the last two Presidential elections. The part with legal weight is the validation of election results by election officials. Concession speeches are not legally binding, but they certainly are politically binding. Any candidate who tried to "take back" a concession would be unable to perform the duties of their elected office effectively because they'd be disowned by their own party and targeted by the opposing one.
posted by jjg at 5:28 PM on November 8, 2006

Concessions are not legally binding. The winner of the official count is the winner, no matter who has conceded or claimed victory.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 5:28 PM on November 8, 2006

I believe that Al Gore initially conceded before all of the Florida details came out and then he "took back" the concession.
posted by mattbucher at 5:43 PM on November 8, 2006

I think that a concession is, first of all, a sign of class, and second, a promise not to send in the lawyers. But as Pater Aletheias says, it is not legally binding and doesn't actually affect the decision directl.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 5:48 PM on November 8, 2006

A concession speech has no legal effect at all. Legally, the winner is determined when the election results are certified by the state. Usually this is done by the secretary of state or a state commissioner of elections.

Incidentally, this is why George Allen can't request a re-count until Nov 27 - that's when Virginia will certify the election results and declare an official winner.
posted by thewittyname at 6:09 PM on November 8, 2006

I believe that Al Gore initially conceded before all of the Florida details came out and then he "took back" the concession.

I am pretty sure this is not what happened.
posted by jjg at 8:34 PM on November 8, 2006

jjg, I think mattbucher. is correct. According to Wikipedia, "He had previously made a concession phone call to Bush the night of the election, then retracted it after learning just how close the election was."
posted by The Radish at 9:42 PM on November 8, 2006