In the 1800 Presidential election, the Democratic-Republicans ran
Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr on their ballot. Jefferson and Burr
won a clear majority of the national vote. All 73 Democratic-Republican
members of the Electoral College voted faithfully, casting two votes
each, one for Jefferson and one for Burr.
Before the 12th Amendment, Electors cast two votes for their party
without specifying one as being for the President and the other as being
for the Vice President. Because of this, Jefferson and Burr received
exactly the same number of Electoral votes and the election was a tie.
Since there was no majority within the Electoral College, the decision
was deferred to the House of Representatives, then controlled by the
Federalist Party. Though Jefferson was clearly the
Democratic-Republican’s candidate for President, the Federalist Party
considered Burr to be less of an evil than Jefferson. They tried to rally
support for Burr in place of Jefferson. Burr also refused to endorse
Jefferson.
The House had difficulty coming to a majority and cast 36 separate
votes within one week. Though the original election was in November,
the final House vote, electing Jefferson as President, did not occur until
February 7, 1800. Aaron Burr was appointed as Vice President.
This election prompted the passing of the 12th Amendment which
introduced double balloting. The Electoral College now casts two
separate votes, one for President and one for Vice President.
