The 1820 United States presidential election was the ninth quadrennial presidential election. It was held from Wednesday, November 1, to Wednesday, December 6, 1820. Taking place at the height of the Era of Good Feelings, the election saw incumbent Democratic-Republican President James Monroe win re-election without a major opponent. It was the third and the most recent United States presidential election in which a presidential candidate ran effectively unopposed. As of 2023, this is the most recent presidential election where an incumbent president was re-elected who was neither a Democrat nor a Republican, before the Democratic-Republican party split into separate parties.
In the United States, the Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every 4 years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state appoints electors under the methods described by its legislature, equal in number to its congressional delegation. The federal District of Columbia also has 3 electors under an amendment adopted in 1961. Federal office holders, including senators and representatives, cannot be electors. Of the current 538 electors, a simple majority of 270 or more electoral votes is required to elect the president and vice president. If no candidate achieves a majority there, a contingent election is held by the House of Representatives to elect the president and by the Senate to elect the vice president.
In United States presidential elections, an unpledged elector is a person nominated to stand as an elector but who has not pledged to support any particular presidential or vice presidential candidate, and is free to vote for any candidate when elected a member of the Electoral College. Presidential elections are indirect, with voters in each state choosing electors on Election Day in November, and these electors choosing the president and vice president of the United States in December. Electors in practice have since the 19th century almost always agreed in advance to vote for a particular candidate — that is, they are said to have been pledged to that candidate. In several elections in the 20th century, however, competitive campaigns were mounted by candidates who made no pledge to any presidential nominee before the election. These anomalies largely arose from fissures within the Democratic Party over the issues of civil rights and segregation. No serious general election campaign has been mounted to elect unpledged electors in any state since 1964.
In the United States Electoral College, a faithless elector is an elector who does not vote for the candidates for U.S. President and U.S. Vice President for whom the elector had pledged to vote, and instead votes for another person for one or both offices or abstains from voting. As part of United States presidential elections, each state selects the method by which its electors are to be selected, which in modern times has been based on a popular vote in most states, and generally requires its electors to have pledged to vote for the candidates of their party if appointed. A pledged elector is only considered a faithless elector by breaking their pledge; unpledged electors have no pledge to break. The consequences of an elector voting in a way inconsistent with their pledge vary from state to state.
The election of the president and the vice president of the United States is an indirect election in which citizens of the United States who are registered to vote in one of the fifty U.S. states or in Washington, D.C., cast ballots not directly for those offices, but instead for members of the Electoral College. These electors then cast direct votes, known as electoral votes, for president, and for vice president. The candidate who receives an absolute majority of electoral votes is then elected to that office. If no candidate receives an absolute majority of the votes for president, the House of Representatives elects the president; likewise if no one receives an absolute majority of the votes for vice president, then the Senate elects the vice president.
The 1920 United States presidential election in Alabama took place on November 2, 1920, as part of the 1920 general election, in which all 48 states participated. Alabama voters chose twelve electors to represent them in the Electoral College via popular vote pitting Democratic nominee James M. Cox and his running mate, Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin Roosevelt, against Republican challenger U.S. Senator Warren G. Harding and his running mate, Governor Calvin Coolidge.
Following is a table of United States presidential elections in Alabama, ordered by year. Since its admission to statehood in 1819, Alabama has participated in every U.S. presidential election except the election of 1864, during the American Civil War, when the state had seceded to join the Confederacy.
Following is a table of United States presidential elections in Delaware, ordered by year. Since its admission to statehood in 1787, Delaware has participated in every U.S. presidential election.
Following is a table of United States presidential elections in Indiana, ordered by year. Since its admission to statehood in 1816, Indiana has participated in every U.S. presidential election.
The 1820 United States presidential election in Louisiana took place between November 1 to December 6, 1820, as part of the 1820 United States presidential election. The state legislature chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice President.
The 1820 United States presidential election in Vermont took place between November 1 to December 6, 1820, as part of the 1820 United States presidential election. The state legislature chose eight representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice President.
The 1820 United States presidential election in New York took place between November 1 to December 6, 1820, as part of the 1820 United States presidential election. The state legislature chose 29 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice President.
The 1820 United States presidential election in New Jersey took place between November 1 to December 6, 1820, as part of the 1820 United States presidential election. The state legislature chose eight representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice President.
The 1820 United States presidential election in South Carolina took place between November 1 to December 6, 1820, as part of the 1820 United States presidential election. The state legislature chose 11 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice President.
The 1820 United States presidential election in Indiana took place between November 1 to December 6, 1820, as part of the 1820 United States presidential election. The state legislature chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice President.
The 1816 United States presidential election in Massachusetts took place between November 1 and 3, 1816, as part of the 1816 United States presidential election. The Legislature of Massachusetts chose 22 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice President.
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