The four elections in which the President-Elect lost the popular vote are:
1824 – Adams over Jackson
Popular vote margin: 44,804 - favoring Jackon
Electoral College margin: 15 - favoring Jackon
*John
Q. Adams received fewer electoral votes and fewer popular votes than
Andrew Jackson, but, as outlined by the Constitution, when no candidate
receives the majority of the Electoral College vote the decision is
turned over to the House of Representatives. There, 13 state
delegations voted for John Q. Adams, 7 for Jackson and 3 for Crawford.
(www.nara.gov)
1876 – Hayes over Tilden
Popular vote margin: 264,292 - favoring Tilden
Electoral College margin: 1 - electing Hayes
1888 – Harrison over Cleveland
Popular vote margin: 100,456 - favoring Cleveland
Electoral College margin: 65 - electing Harrison
2000 – Bush over Gore
Popular vote margin: 543,895 (the largest so far) - favoring Gore
Electoral College margin: 5 - electing Bush
*Note:
Some sources also consider 1960 a contested election. Although most
believe Kennedy won the popular vote and the electoral college, some
believe that there exists an alternative result that puts Nixon on top
in popular votes. However, this election is not as harshly contested as
the above four.
It is only luck that has saved us from more
situations like these where the White House is not delivered to the
President-Elect. Statistics show that close elections possess a very
high possibility of this distorted result. Several elections throughout
the 19th and 20th centuries have been so close that a small difference
in votes – a fraction of 1 percent of the national vote – would have
presented a different winner.
| Election Year | Shift Needed | In Which States |
| 1828 | 11,517 | Ohio, Kentucky, New York, Louisiana, Indiana |
| 1840 | 8,386 | New York, Pennsylvania, Maine, New Jersey |
| 1844 | 2,555 | New York |
| 1848 | 3,227 | Georgia, Maryland, Delaware |
| 1864 | 38,111 | New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Oregon, Wisconsin, Maryland, Connecticut |
| 1868 | 29,862 | Pennsylvania, Indiana, North Carolina, Alabama, Connecticut, California, Nevada |
| 1880 | 10,517 | New York |
| 1884 | 575 | New York |
| 1892 | 37,364 | New York, Indiana, Wisconsin, New Jersey, California |
| 1896 | 20,296 | Indiana, Kentucky, California, Delaware, Oregon, West Virginia |
| 1900 | 74,755 | Ohio, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, Maryland, Utah, Wyoming |
| 1908 | 75,041 | Ohio, Missouri, Indiana, Kansas, Delaware, West Virginia, Montana, Maryland |
| 1916 | 1,983 | California |
| 1948 | 29,294 | California, Ohio, Illinois |
| 1960 | 11,424 | Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico, Hawaii, Nevada |
| 1976 | 9,246 | Hawaii, Ohio |
*Information from Why the Electoral College is Bad for America, George C.
Edwards III
Ignoring Your Vote
More Options
Vague Values
Electoral Replacements
Electoral Tie
Favorite Son Effect
A Few States Wins
Constitutional Residence
State Size
Special Interests
Power of State Legislatures
Electoral College Table of Contents