As Americans and those abroad are waiting anxiously to find out who will win the 2020 election it made me think about other US elections that were not decided on election night, and how people back then might of felt.
In 1800 Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr won the SAME number of votes in the Electoral College and the House of Representatives ended up choosing who the president would be. Imagine if that happened in 2020. I can’t even. The country kept going and Thomas Jefferson’s face is on Mount Rushmore.
In 1824 Andrew Jackson won the popular vote but he didn’t win the Electoral College. There were three people running for president in this election. The House of Representatives chose John Quincy Adams in 1824, but don’t feel bad for Andrew Jackson, feel bad for all of the Native Americans that passed away during the Trail of Tears that happened during Andrew Jackson’s Presidency beginning in 1829.
In 1876 the election between Rutherford B Hayes and Samuel Tilden was contested because several states REFUSED to certify their election results. The 1876 election was decided by a backroom deal before the Electoral College voted. The Hayes presidency would be remembered for being the presidency that ended Civil War-era reconstruction.
The 1960 election between John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon was full of allegations of voter fraud, and Nixon supporters wanted a recount. Nixon was convinced to not push for a recount to keep the country looking strong against the Soviet Union.
The 2000 election between George W. Bush and Al Gore went to the Supreme Court due to “hanging chads” in Florida. While Gore and his supporters didn’t like the results of Bush v. Gore the country and its governance moved forward.
The 2020 election isn’t finished because some states haven’t finished their first count. There is nothing in the Constitution that states that the states have to finish counting by the end of Election Day. I would be shocked if the 2020 election isn’t added to this list of contested elections, but I know that in January a president will be inaugurated and the country will move forward.
