Disturbing New Poll Shows Less Than Half of Republicans Say Losing Candidates Should Concede Elections

Fewer than half of Republicans say candidates who receive fewer votes once all the ballots are tallied say the loser should concede the race, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll.

The result is not surprising, but nevertheless troubling given what unfolded after the 2020 presidential election. In that affair, then-President Donald Trump lost the election but refused to concede. At one point he even declared, “Frankly, we did win this election.”

Trump falsely maintained the election was rigged against him and mounted a series of doomed legal challenges in various courts. Ultimately, a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol and succeeded in delaying certification of the election results for several hours.

The survey – conducted between Sept. 23 and Sept. 27 – shows that just 43% of Republicans agreed with the statement, “The candidate with fewer votes should concede the election.”

One may quibble with this wording, as a presidential candidate can receive fewer popular votes and still lose. Nonetheless, the winner is required to get a majority of electoral votes, which by definition, is more than any other candidate.

The 43% tracks quite neatly with voters who voted for Trump in 2020, as 44% of Trump voters said losing candidates should not concede. Also, 44% of Fox News viewers said the same.

Meanwhile, 74% of Democrats said the loser should concede, and 57% of independents also agreed with the statement.

Elsewhere in the survey, just 36% of Republicans agreed with the statement, “Candidates should commit in advance to accepting the results.”

Sixty-four percent of Democrats agreed, while 45% of independents did.

Not surprisingly, many Trump supporters believe his false claims and now feel there are widespread issues with what they refer to as “election integrity.”

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