A President May Be Elected Without Winning the Vote

Do you remember the 2000 election when Democrat Al Gore won the popular vote, but Republican George Bush was elected into office? That's the power of the electoral college.

Do you remember the 1824 election when Andrew Jackson won both the popular vote and the most votes in the electoral college, and yet still lost the election? Of course not, none of us were born yet. However, it still happened!

That year, four men were running for the office of the presidency: Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, Secretary of the Treasury William Harris Crawford, Speaker of the House Henry Clay, and Tennessee Senator Andrew Jackson.

At this time, to win the race, a candidate had to earn 131 votes from the electoral college. (In 2016, a candidate needs 270 votes.) After the general election, Andrew Jackson had 99 votes, and John Quincy Adams had 84 votes. According to the 12th Amendment, the House of Representatives would then get to decide on who would win the race, taking into consideration the top three contenders.

So, while Andrew Jackson got the most votes in the general election and within the electoral college, John Quincy Adams won the election via the House of Representatives.

We may not have an election this chaotic this year (let's hope), but boy, have we had to endure a lot of chaos in the last year leading up to today.

(via Mental Floss)