History Repeats? 1916 Election Parallel
From a news story by
CNN San Francisco Reporter Don Knapp
November 11, 2000
Looking back, the presidential election was something of a mess.
Professor Terri Bimes teaches a course in the American Presidency at
the University Of California - Berkeley, "There was electoral confusion.
For instance, in Los Angeles, there were more votes than ballots distributed.
In New Hampshire, they switched the votes for the candidates."
Professor Bimes is not talking about campaign 2000, but of the presidential
election of 1916 between Democrat Woodrow Wilson and Republican challenger
Charles Evans Hughes.
There were allegations of election fraud, claims that ballots were tossed
out because it appeared some voters had voted twice, and demands for
a recount.
The race had come down to California's 13 electoral votes and ultimately,
to the relatively few votes of Northern California's rural communities
like this one in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, an area now known as Wilsonia
for very good reason.
Professor Bill Issel of San Francisco State University says, "The
surprise in California was of course shaped by Mother Nature's lack
of cooperation, snow."
"Hughes Probably Elected" says the SF Chronicle headline from
the day after the election in 1916. With most of the state's ballots
tallied, challenger Hughes held a slim lead over President Wilson. It
was another day before horse drawn wagons battling snow and rough terrain
could deliver their ballot boxes and ultimately the election to Wilson.
Fred Vreeman of the Kings Canyon Park Service Co says, "So, the
people in this area say, and have always said, since 1916, that they
were the ones who swung the election for Wilson, and in his honor, they
named this area Wilsonia."
This year's election with its parallels to that of 1916, turns out to
be very exciting for the students in Professor Bime's class on the American
presidency.
Professor Terri Bimes, "They're very charged. Lots of excitement.
Lots of questions. It is a really, it's, it's, ahh, bad for the country,
but, ahh, good for the course... Ha."
Additional Notes:
The article refers to California's 13 electoral votes. What does this
mean?
The Constitution of the United States tells how the President and the
Vice-President are chosen. The President and Vice-President are elected
by an "Electoral College", rather than by direct popular vote.
Each state is given "electoral votes" equal to the total number
of Senators and Representatives in that state. The District of Columbia
has 3 electoral votes. On election day, voters are actually voting for
Electoral College members who promise to vote for the candidates of
their respective political parties. In all but two states the party
with the greatest number of votes receives all the electoral votes for
that state. Nebraska and Maine allow their electoral votes to be split
among candidates.
In order to win, a party's Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates
must receive one more than half of the total of number of electoral
votes. If no candidates have this number of votes, then the House of
Representatives decides the election.
In 2000 California has 54 votes out of the total of 538 electoral votes.
A candidate needs 270 to be elected
Related Sites:
© 1999-2000 Cable News Network, Inc.
Western/Pacific Literacy Network
Western/Pacific LINCS
All Rights Reserved
|
