If you’ve ever wondered if your vote really does matter, check out these facts from some extremely close elections.
1800 – ONE VOTE in the electoral college made Thomas Jefferson President over Aaron Burr.
1845 – ONE VOTE brought Texas into the Union.
1847 – ONE VOTE elected Whig candidate George G. Dunn over Democratic candidate David M. Dobson for the U.S. House of Representatives in Indiana.
1948 – 87 VOTES elected Lyndon B. Johnson to the Senate.
1867 – ONE VOTE decided on the purchase of Alaskan territory.
1868 – ONE VOTE prevented President Andrew Johnson from being impeached.
1955 – ONE VOTE elected the mayor of Huron, Ohio.
1916 – ONE VOTE in each California precinct re-elected Woodrow Wilson to the Presidency over Charles E. Hughes.
1960 – ONE VOTE per precinct made John F. Kennedy the President over contender Richard Nixon.
1962 – ONE VOTE per precinct determined the winners for Governor in the states of Maine, Rhode Island, and North Dakota.
1977 – ONE VOTE determined in a recount, decided that Robert Emond won the seat for Vermont State Representative over Sydney Nixon.
1984 – ONE VOTE elected a Monroe County, Florida commissioner.
1999 – ONE VOTE per precinct elected Leslie Byrne to the Virginia Senate.
2000 – 237 VOTES in Florida resulted in the election of George W. Bush to the Presidency.
2002 – 5 VOTES elected Dan Sparks to the Minnesota State Senate.
2004 – 129 VOTES declared Christine Gregoire the Governor of Washington in a third and final hand recount.
Now you REALLY have no excuses! Make your vote count!
Posts
3 comments:
Americans must vote! You must not let another man, like George W. Bush to rule your country and try to destroy what we have left of this world. Your not only voting the next president, but you may have in your hand the faith of the world. STOP THE WARS IN THE MIDDLE-EAST!
In 1985, one vote in Socorro, New Mexico not only elected a city councillor, but gave that councillor's party a 4-3 majority on the council.
On the island of Zanzibar (shortly after its brief independence before merging into the nation of Tanzania) there was an election in which the Presidency was decided by one vote.
The 2000 election margin in Florida was actually 537, not 237 votes-- though in fact it was decided by one vote, 5-4 in the place where the (s)election was actually sealed. Also, that same year Al Gore won New Mexico by 366 votes.
Also there was a year in New Mexico when Dick Minzner finished in a tie with his Republican opponent but was elected (I think it was to a legislative seat) because after the tie was certified he beat his opponent in a hand of poker. However, he needed every single vote to have that opportunity.
Post a Comment