# Florida Republican who lost congressional special election by 59 percentage points won't concede **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 17, 2022, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948 "2022-01-17T20:00:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2022, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/41 "2022-01-19T13:25:03Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Wow! Not just one conviction – that’s quite the rap sheet. Hypothesis, if there were that much brains in the FLGOP: it’s trolling those FL voters who voted a couple of years ago to restore the right to vote to felons who completed their sentence (Fun Fact: the GOP Legislature then turned around and said “completing your sentence” included refunding the state the administrative expenses… so did he?) > [@RitterSport](#): > > Deny > Attack > Reverse Victim and Offender > > I had never heard of it either. I’ve been seeing it for some time now including some threads here at SDMB. Still I did not think it’s yet one of those that can be just put out there w/o explaining. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2022, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/42 "2022-01-19T13:39:29Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > > [@ekedolphin](#): > > > > Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick > > And she won her primary by like 5 votes or something crazy thin. That would have been worth contesting. A Democratic opponent in the primary contested the results, on the basis that her promoting a universal basic income constituted voter bribery. Wonder if generic Florida Man could win an election in the state. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2022, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/43 "2022-01-19T13:43:51Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > DARVO I guess that makes their supporters Daelks. :robotic monotone: Don’t vaccinate! Don’t vaccinate! ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2022, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/44 "2022-01-19T13:46:34Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > That’s basically 2016 Trump. It wasn’t enough to be President, he needed to prove he won the popular vote. 🙄 > > (Spoiler: He didn’t.) Don’t forget, while simultaneously bragging that his strategy of focusing on key small swing states that tipped the Electoral College in his favor is what let him beat Hillary. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2022, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/45 "2022-01-19T13:56:27Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Hypothesis, if there were that much brains in the FLGOP: it’s trolling those FL voters who voted a couple of years ago to restore the right to vote to felons who completed their sentence (Fun Fact: the GOP Legislature then turned around and said “completing your sentence” included refunding the state the administrative expenses… so did he?) There is of course a rather considerable difference between felons having a right to vote and felons having a right to be elected to the US Congress. Criminal records are routinely disqualifying factors for many jobs, for access to rental housing, for loans and mortgages, and for immigration. But apparently not for trying to get elected to the US Congress. It’s good to know that the government holds its representatives to such high standards! ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2022, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/46 "2022-01-19T14:37:00Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > A Democratic opponent in the primary contested the results, on the basis that her promoting a universal basic income constituted voter bribery. On that basis you can accuse anyone who runs on a platform that includes lowering taxes of bribing voters. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/47 "2022-01-22T14:25:24Z")
Hugo Chavez strikes again! ---
**Author:** ![paulmarkj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9e8a1a/32.png) [@paulmarkj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulmarkj)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/48 "2022-01-22T14:35:43Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > > “We’ll also have some stuff coming out that we’ve recently discovered,” Mariner told the TV station without elaborating. Just about the most vague defence he could make. Now, you’d think he couldn’t use that defence in court, but Trump has used worse! ---
**Author:** ![paulmarkj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9e8a1a/32.png) [@paulmarkj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulmarkj)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/49 "2022-01-22T14:38:56Z")
"ThelmaLou[Member](https://boards.straightdope.com/g/Member) And who’s going to enforce this stuff?" Surely the same people who would stop a losing party rioting and storming Capitol Hill buildings? It is, after all, the same crime. People are trying to stop democracy and take office when they lost. Surely that is a crime of treason? ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/50 "2022-01-22T15:00:16Z")
> [@paulmarkj](#): > > People are trying to stop democracy and take office when they lost. Surely that is a crime of treason? I literally cannot count the number of times this has been discussed on this board > Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason… That’s it. That’s the crime of treason under U.S. law, and nothing else. Trying to “stop democracy” or “take office when they lost” is _not_ a crime of treason. _If_ they use force, it may be the crime of _sedition_. And, indeed, a number of people have now been charged with seditious conspiracy over the January 6 attack on the Capitol. What Jason Mariner is doing is both ridiculous and appalling. It is toxic and corrosive and undermines our democracy. But, so far, I don’t think he’s committed a crime. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/51 "2022-01-22T17:00:04Z")
> [@gdave](#): > > But, so far, I don’t think he’s committed a crime. Yes. It’s not a crime to be a stupid asshole who does not know how elections work. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/52 "2022-01-22T17:46:55Z")
He’s always free to demand (and pay for in this case) a recount. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/53 "2022-01-22T17:55:49Z")
> [@paulmarkj](#): > > People are trying to stop democracy and take office when they lost. Surely that is a crime of treason? Apparently, the current Republican standard for treason if you are Republican is outright declaring that you are committing treason while sworn in during voluntary testimony. If you are a Democrat, the standard is not being a Republican. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2022, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/54 "2022-01-24T17:42:13Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > He’s always free to demand (and pay for in this case) a recount. Not in Florida. We stopped letting people ask for recounts - or letting people look at ballots that a machine has already counted - sometime after the year 2000. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2022, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/55 "2022-01-24T18:01:18Z")
With this doofus I can see the wisdom in that and I just looked it up – Arizona has no mechanism for requesting a recount either. Is there a system in place for automatic recounts if the margin is less than a certain percentage? Here it’s typically 0.1% with exceptions for the smaller races ranging from 200 to 10 votes. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2022, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/56 "2022-01-24T20:33:04Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Is there a system in place for automatic recounts if the margin is less than a certain percentage? Yes, within a 0.5% they will run all the ballots a second time. If the margin is within 0.25% they will manually sift through ballots rejected for overvotes and undervotes. At no point does a human being ever manually review a ballot that a machine has already counted. See also [What are your concerns about election security and accessibility? - #13 by Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-concerns-about-election-security-and-accessibility/957167/13) ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2022, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948/57 "2022-01-26T23:42:04Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > Yes, within a 0.5% they will run all the ballots a second time. If the margin is within 0.25% they will manually sift through ballots rejected for overvotes and undervotes. At no point does a human being ever manually review a ballot that a machine has already counted. So if you have rigged the machines, there is no chance it will ever be caught. Sounds like a great system. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-republican-who-lost-congressional-special-election-by-59-percentage-points-wont-concede/957948.md?page=2)