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→Contested Presidential Elections in the 19th Century
The 1824 presidential election featured four main candidates, with the candidates being Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay and William Crawford. Because there were four main candidates, with each having some support, the results led to a contested election in which no candidate was able to obtain the majority of the electoral college. This election featured only one party, the Democratic-Republican Party, although numerous factions existed, which eventually gave rise to the Democratic and Republican parties. As the majority of the electoral college votes are needed to become president, the election led to one of the few times the House of Representatives ultimately chose who became president. Andrew Jackson had won the most electoral votes, but he ultimately proved unsuccessful and John Quincy Adams was voted by the House. It was (likely) the first election where the winner did not receive a majority of the popular vote, where Adams only obtained about 32% of the total vote. Clay, who finished fourth, lent Adams sup, which helped to overcome Jackson's challenge. Unlike today, more than a couple of states split their electoral votes based on districts. Maryland, Louisiana, Illinois, and New York split their votes. The help by Clay led Jackson to accuse Adams of striking a corrupt bargain, as Clay was appointed Secretary of State in the Adams' administration. That message and accusation of corruption helped Jackson win the next presidential election.
Perhaps the most disputed election in US history is the presidential election of 1876, which saw Rutherford Hayes (Republican) vs. Samuel J. Tilden (Democratic). In that election, Tilden had obtained the majority of the popular votes and, initially, the majority of the electoral votes (Tilden had won 184 electoral votes to Hayes's 165). However, 20 electoral votes were unresolved from the states of Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina. Each party declared their candidate won but ultimately it could not be resolved with ballots or the electoral votes. In the so-called compromise of 1877, the election was resolved by the Democratic party agreeing to give 20 electoral votes to Hayes in exchange for the Republicans withdrawing troops from the South, who had been there since the end of the Civil War, and formally ending Reconstruction. That compromise had long-lasting effects on the suppression of black voters, particularly as Jim Crow laws gained power in the South, but in the immediate sense it resolved the election. That election was notable for having the highest voter turnout (81.8%) and the narrowest electoral college victory for the winning candidate (185 to 184).
==Later Contested Elections==
