this question occurs to me every election day. it's not election day anymore, but this reminded me of it so now i'm wondering again:
what happens if a candidate concedes and then, it turns out, he or she wins the vote. i wonder this because every election day most politicians concede before all the votes are counted. usually there is at least a theoretical possibility (if an unlikely one) that the votes could flip the other way at the last minute.
i guess the question comes down to whether there is any legal significance to a concession. if a concession is like withdrawing from the race, i guess, it would be binding. if it's just a courtesy, or an announcement that you're not going to challenge the outcome, the vote would still count.
famously in 2000, gore called bush to tell him he was conceding. but then, after being more fully briefed on the situation in florida, called bush back and told him he was not conceding after all. gore could recind his concession in that case, but he never got in front of the camera and made a formal announcement before he called bush back. does that make a difference?
with all of the various public offices each year and the more than 220 year history of this country, there must be some case where a candidate conceded only to discover that he or she got the most votes after all. i guess i could try to look it up, but it's easier to just post this question and see what comes of it. help me out here.
