Presidential electoral votes by state.

The U.S. presidential election of 1876 was perhaps the most disputed presidential election in American history. Samuel Tilden handily defeated Ohio's Rutherford Hayes in the popular vote, and had 184 electoral votes to Hayes' 165. However, 20 electoral votes were in dispute due to three states (Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina) each reporting and certifying two different sets of election returns. This was compounded when one of Oregon's votes was declared illegal on account of "holding a federal office".

Nominations

Republican Party nomination

Governor Hayes was nominated in a close vote, receiving 384 delegate votes to chief rival James Blaine's 351. William Wheeler was nominated for Vice President by a much larger margin (366-89) over his chief rival, who would later serve as a member of the electoral commission: Frederick T. Frelinghuysen.

Democratic Party nomination

Governor Tilden was the overwhelming favorite for the Democratic nomination, receiving 535 delegate votes and besting his nearest rival (Indiana Governor Thomas A. Hendricks) by a nearly 4-to-1 margin. Hendricks would be nominated for Vice President of the United States by acclamation following Tilden's nomination.

Greenback Labor Party nomination

Dissatisfied with the nation's fiscal policies, the Greenback Labor Party was organized for the 1880 election, with Peter Fennimore Cooper chosen as its Presidential nominee and Samuel F. Cary chosen as his running mate.

General election

Electoral disputes

See also: Electoral Commission (US)

In Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina, official returns favored Tilden, but each election was marked by fraud and threats of violence against Republican voters. The Republican-dominated state electoral commissions subsequently were able to disallow a sufficient number of votes to award their electors to Hayes. The result? Two sets of returns, one certified by the state's Governor (favoring Hayes), and the other, certified by the state's legislature (favoring Tilden).

In Oregon meanwhile just a single elector was disputed. The statewide result clearly had favored Hayes, but the state's Democratic Governor (LaFayette Grover ) claimed that the elector, a postmaster, was constitutionally ineligible to vote on the grounds of "holding a federal office." Grover then substituted a Democratic elector in his place.

Facing a constitutional crisis the likes of which the nation had never seen, on January 29, 1877 the U.S. Congress passed a law forming a 15-member Electoral Commission to settle the result. Five members came from each house of the U.S. Congress, and they were joined by five members of the United States Supreme Court.

The majority party in each house received three of the five members, and the five Supreme Court justices were chosen as follows: two from each of the major parties and another judge selected by these four to cast the swing vote.

The justices selected Justice David Davis, but he was elected to the Senate by Illinois' state legislature, forcing them to choose an alternate, Justice Joseph P. Bradley, a Republican but still considered the most impartial remaining member of the court. This proved insufficient however, as on each of the 20 disputed electoral votes he joined with the other 7 Republican members to award Hayes a 185-184 electoral vote victory.

This election was one of the most contentious presidential elections in United States history, and historically more significant than even the U.S. presidential election of 2000. The returns accepted by the Commission placed Hayes' victory margin in South Carolina at 889 votes, making this the second-closest election in U.S. history, after the 2000 debacle, decided by 537 votes after the Supreme Court's ruling in Bush v. Gore. Interestingly enough, these two elections share many characteristics.

Members of the Electoral Commission

Results

(reflecting the Commission's rulings)

|- | Samuel Jones Tilden | Democratic | New York | style="text-align:right;" | 4,300,590 | style="text-align:right;" | 51.1% | style="text-align:right;" | 184 | Thomas Andrews Hendricks | Indiana | style="text-align:right;" | 184

|- | Peter Fennimore Cooper | Greenback Labor | New York | style="text-align:right;" | 75,973 | style="text-align:right;" | 0.9% | style="text-align:right;" | 0 | Samuel F. Cary | Ohio | style="text-align:right;" | 0

|- | Green Clay Smith | Prohibition | Kentucky | style="text-align:right;" | 6,743 | style="text-align:right;" | 0.1% | style="text-align:right;" | 0 | Gideon Tabor Stewart | Ohio | style="text-align:right;" | 0

|- | James B. Walker | American National | Illinois | style="text-align:right;" | 459 | style="text-align:right;" | 0.0% | style="text-align:right;" | 0 | Donald Kirkpatrick | New York | style="text-align:right;" | 0 ^(a) '

See also

• President of the United States
• History of the United States (1865-1918)

External links

• http://showbizproductions.homestead.com/Tildenmovieintro.html
• http://www.SamuelTilden.com
• The Centennial Crisis: The Disputed Election of 1876
• HarpWeek | Hayes vs. Tilden: The Electoral College Controversy of 1876-1877