U.S. Presidential Election Irregularities Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. In the 1800 presidential election, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr tied for first place, throwing the election into the House of Representatives for a tie-breaking vote. However, after 35 votes over six days they were still tied! Who finally became President?

Answer: Thomas Jefferson

In the 1800 election each voter voted for two presidential candidates on the same ballot. The candidate receiving a majority became President and the runner-up became Vice President. In this election, the House of Representatives voted on a tiebreaker, but it took 36 votes over six days to finally decide. Jefferson finally was declared President by one vote and Burr was declared the Vice President. That election led to adoption of the 12th Amendment to the Constitution, which required electors to designate their votes for President and Vice President on separate ballots.

After the election of 1868, presidential election procedure was changed again. The Vice President would run on the same ticket as the President, thus eliminating the chance of the President and Vice President being from different parties. Aaron Burr shot and killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804 while in office as Jefferson's VP.

2. In the 1824 presidential election, Andrew Jackson won the popular vote, but lost the subsequent Electoral College vote. In addition, none of the four Presidential candidates received an electoral majority. Who finally became President?

Answer: John Quincy Adams

In the 1824 election, none of the four presidential candidates received an electoral majority, although Andrew Jackson received the majority of the nation's popular vote. The election was again thrown into the House of Representatives, where John Quincy Adams defeated front runner Andrew Jackson by one vote to become the nation's sixth President. Adams was accused by opponent Andrew Jackson of entering into a 'corrupt bargain' with a third opponent, Representative Henry Clay, in order to win the Presidency when Clay subsequently became Secretary of State in Adams' administration.

However, it is doubtful a man of Adams' character would have resorted to this. Moreover, Clay favored a program similar to that of Adams. Andrew Jackson ran again four years later and this time was elected to become our nation's seventh President.

3. In the 1872 presidential election, candidate Horace Greeley died between Election Day and the meeting of the Electors. Who finally became President?

Answer: Ulysses S. Grant

Three Electors loyally tried to vote for Greeley but Congress refused to count votes for the dead man. Two interesting historical footnotes in this election: Greeley had earlier in his career given the famous advice 'Go west, young man.' Susan B. Anthony was arrested in Rochester, NY in 1872 for casting an illegal vote in this election.

She was arrested and fined $100, which she refused to pay. The 19th Amendment to the Constitution giving women the legal right to vote was not ratified until 1920, 14 years after her death.

4. In the 1876 presidential election, Democratic candidate Samuel J. Tilden won the popular vote, but initially both he and Republican Rutherford B. Hayes were short in the electoral votes needed to win the presidency. Competing sets of electors from four states could swing the results, depending on who was certified. This deadlock was finally decided by a commission established by Congress. Who finally became President?

Answer: Rutherford B. Hayes

In the 1876 presidential election, Democrat Samuel J. Tilden won roughly 250,000 more popular votes than Republican Rutherford B. Hayes did. However, in the electoral vote count that would decide who won the election, Tilden received 184 electoral votes, Hayes received 165, and 20 were uncertain, with two different sets of returns being presented (19 from Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina, as well as one from Oregon). Congress established a 15-member electoral commission to settle this dispute and declare a winner.

The deadlock was finally broken when Southern Democrats agreed to support Hayes' claim for the presidency if he would agree to end reconstruction.

5. In the 1888 presidential election, Grover Cleveland won the popular vote, but lost the subsequent Electoral College vote. Who finally became President?

Answer: Benjamin Harrison

In the 1888 presidential election Grover Cleveland beat Benjamin Harrison by roughly 95,000 popular votes. However, Cleveland received only 168 electoral votes and Harrison had 223, allowing him to win the Presidency. Four years later in a rematch, Cleveland won back the Presidency, making him the only President to serve non-sequential terms.

He was President from 1885-1889 and from 1893-1897.

6. In the 1956 presidential election, a defecting Democratic Elector from Alabama cast a vote in the Electoral College for Walter B. Jones instead of for the Democratic nominee Adlai E. Stevenson. Who finally became President?

Answer: Dwight D. Eisenhower

The Eisenhower TV ad that showed a banging drum carried by an elephant and the lyrics "You like Ike. I like Ike. Everybody likes Ike!" (first used in the 1952 election) was one of the earliest TV ads used to help sell a political candidate.

7. In the 1968 presidential election there were three major contenders: Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphrey, and George Wallace. Nixon and Humphrey tied with 43 percent of the direct vote and Wallace had 13.5 percent. Who finally became President?

Answer: Richard Nixon

The Presidency went to Nixon with no feud because he won the majority of the electoral votes. The American public was really upset with this election and The American Institute of Public Opinion asked voters before and after that election if they would support a Constitutional amendment eliminating the Electoral College and replacing it with the direct-vote system. Before the election 60 percent said to do away with the College and after the election that total raised to 81 percent.

However, the system was never changed.

8. In the 1972 presidential election, a defecting Republican Elector from Virginia cast a vote in the Electoral College for Libertarian candidate Dr. John Hospers. Who finally became President?

Answer: Richard Nixon

This election made history because it resulted in the first Electoral College vote won by a woman. Hosper's running mate was Theodora 'Tonie' Nathan of Eugene, Oregon. That Virginia Elector was Roger MacBride, who was a co-creator of the TV series 'Little House on the Prairie.' MacBride had run for the Republican nomination for Governor of Vermont in 1964, where he became one of the first candidates to describe himself as a 'Libertarian-type' Republican.

He was the Libertarian candidate for President in 1976.

9. In the 1976 presidential election, a defecting Republican Elector from Washington (state) cast a vote in the Electoral College for Ronald Reagan. Who finally became President?

Answer: Jimmy Carter

Reagan tried again in the 1980 presidential election and this time won, beating incumbent Jimmy Carter and independent candidate John Anderson.

10. In the 1988 presidential election, a defecting Democratic Elector from West Virginia cast a presidential vote in the Electoral College for Lloyd Bentsen. Who finally became President?

Answer: George H. W. Bush

In addition to voting for Lloyd Bentsen for President, this Elector also voted for Michael Dukakis as VP, not President, which was the reverse of how they had campaigned.

Source: Author root17

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

The Bush-Gore contest in 2000 was not the first presidential election in U.S. history where things did not go smoothly. Here are 10 examples.

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