Recently, I posted about the most recent Faithless Electors and
Contested Conventions. But the will of the people is often not reflected in the vote for the Executive.
 |
| JQ Adams |
There have been four US presidential elections where one candidate had more popular votes, but did not win the Electoral College Vote: 1824, 1876, 1888 and 2000. Will 2016 continue this checkered history?
 |
| A. Jackson |
In 1824,
John Quincy Adams was elected president despite not winning either the popular vote or the electoral vote.
Andrew Jackson was the winner in both categories. Jackson received 38,000 more popular votes than Adams, and beat him in the electoral vote 99 to 84. Despite his victories, Jackson didn’t reach the (then) majority 131 votes needed in the Electoral College to be declared president. Neither candidate did. The decision went to the House of Representatives, which voted Adams into the White House.
 |
| RB Hayes |
 |
| Tilden |
In 1876, Rutherford B. Hayes won the election (by a margin of one electoral vote), but he lost the popular vote by more than 250,000 ballots to Samuel J. Tilden.
 |
| Harrison |
 |
| Cleveland |
In 1888, Benjamin Harrison received 233 electoral votes to Grover Cleveland’s 168, winning the presidency. But Harrison lost the popular vote by more than 90,000 votes.
In 2000, George W. Bush was declared the winner of the general election and became the 43rd president, but he didn’t win the popular vote either. Al Gore holds that distinction, garnering about 540,000 more votes than Bush. However, Bush won the electoral vote, 271 to 266. (One DC delegate abstained—Barabara Lett-Simmons, in protest over the status of DC; it was the first abstention since 1864.
 |
| Gore |
 |
| W. Bush |
Publishers Weekly says Faithless Elector is a “fast-moving topical thriller.” Its “surprising twists add up to a highly suspenseful read.”
No comments:
Post a Comment