Monday, November 16, 2020

Why Every Vote Counts in an Election

Jan 2, 2011 Michael Streich

In an Election Every Vote Counts - White House Photo/Pete Souza

The historical record demonstrates that close elections resulted from voter turnout which often dictated winners and losers in local and national elections.

In the election of 1884, Republican candidate James Blaine lost to Grover Cleveland because 1,149 New York voters selected the Democrat over Blaine. As one historian noted, “If 575 people had voted the other way in New York, Blaine would have become president.” In that election, 10,052,706 votes had been cast across the nation. The New York vote demonstrated that every vote in an election counts. Today, when parties talk about “getting out the vote,” they are mindful of historical elections like the 1884 campaign.

States that make a Difference in Key Elections: New York in 1884

In 1884, the “swing state” was New York. Had Blaine won the popular vote, the state’s 36 electoral votes would have made Blaine president. 401 electoral votes were in play in 1884. With New York’s 36, Blaine’s electoral vote total would have been 218 over Cleveland’s 183, more than half needed to secure the presidency. So how did Blaine lose?

Several factors caused Blaine’s loss of New York. Most specifically, Blaine failed to denounce an anti-Catholic phrase used by a Protestant minister during an October 29, 1884 campaign function in New York, days before the election. The Reverend Samuel D. Burchard referred to the Democrats as the party of “Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion.”

Response to Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion

New York’s Irish Catholics were outraged. One of the persistent stereotypes of Irish immigrants involved drinking to excess. The reference to Romanism was an obvious slur against the Catholic religion. The bitter anti-Catholicism of the American Know-Nothing Party of the early 1850s was still a vivid reminder of religious intolerance and prejudice.

“Rebellion” was a reminder that the Democrats were responsible for the Civil War. Burchard was “waving the bloody shirt,” a common post-war tactic of Republicans. When asked by a reporter why he lost, Blaine replied, “I should have carried New York by 10,000 votes if the weather had been clear and Dr. Burchard had been doing missionary work in Asia Minor or China.”

Contested Votes and Stolen Elections in American History

One of the most significant election results of 2010 involves the write-in campaign of Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski who lost the Republican primary election to Joe Miller. Miller was endorsed by Sarah Palin and received substantial support from the Tea Party Express. But Murkowski refused to admit defeat and mounted a write-in campaign.

Called a sore loser, she managed an almost impossible task and defeated Miller in the general election with more than 10,000 votes. It was an example of the political dictum that every vote counts.

In the 2000 presidential election, George Bush was declared the winner but only after appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court led to a split decision favoring Bush. The Democrat, Al Gore, actually received more popular votes than Bush. The 2000 election, decided in Florida, has often been compared to the “stolen election” of 1876.

Questions still persist regarding the 1960 election between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon. Allegations of voter fraud in the Chicago, Illinois region as well as certain Texas precincts suggest that Nixon actually won the election, but he refused to demand a recount or an investigation into the irregularities.

The Importance of Voting on Election Day

Historical examples demonstrate the importance of voting. Many past elections might have demonstrated different outcomes if enough people avoided the argument that “my vote will not make a difference.” There are other factors that affect election results. But in the end, what matters is how the citizens vote and if they exercise their duty as citizens in a free democracy.

Sources:

Paul F. Boller, Jr., Presidential Campaigns From George Washington to George W. Bush (Oxford University Press, 2004)
Charles W. Calhoun, “James G. Blaine and the Republican Party Vision,” The Gilded Age and Progressive Era, Ballard C. Campbell, editor (Scholarly Resources Inc., 2000)
Page Smith, The Rise of Industrial America: A People’s History of the Post-Reconstruction Era, Volume 6 (Penguin Books, 1990)