As the United States anxiously awaits for a winner to be projected in the 2020 presidential election, it’s easy to forget it used to take much, much longer to determine the next president of the United States. Before 1845, each state had the freedom to choose its own Election Day. In the early 19th century, state-chosen election days were spread out over the course of an election year. Even when Congress established “the Tuesday after the first Monday in November” as our national Election Day, results could take weeks or even months to be finalized. In 1876, it took four months to declare Rutherford B. Hayes the winner. Even into the 20th century, it was not uncommon for it to take some time for election officials to determine a winner. In 1916, Woodrow Wilson was declared the winner two weeks after Election Day.
We hope we won’t be waiting as long as our friends in the 19th and 20th centuries for a winner to be projected in Tuesday’s race. As the counting continues, we invite you to email us at [email protected] to sign up for this weekly “insider only” newsletter featuring fun-to-read round-ups of Hot Topics, breaking news and some quirky facts to make your Fridays Goodfused.
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