In a United States presidential election, the popular vote is the total number or the percentage of votes cast for a candidate by voters in the 50 states and Washington, D.C.; the candidate who gains the most votes nationwide is said to have won the popular vote. As the popular vote is not used to determine who is elected as the nation's president or vice president, it is possible for the winner of the popular vote to end up losing the election, an outcome that has occurred on five occasions, most recently in 2016. This is because presidential elections are indirect elections; the votes cast on Election Day are not cast directly for a candidate but for members of the Electoral College. The Electoral College's electors then formally elect the president and vice president.

The Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution (1804) provides the procedure by which the president and vice president are elected; electors vote separately for each office. Previously, electors cast two votes for president, and the winner and runner up became president and vice-president respectively. The appointment of electors is a matter for each state's legislature to determine; in 1872 and in every presidential election since 1880, all states have used a popular vote to do so. In every presidential election from 1788 through 1828, multiple state legislatures selected their presidential electors by discretionary appointment rather than by popular vote, while the South Carolina General Assembly did so in every presidential election through 1860, and the Florida Legislature and the Colorado General Assembly selected their presidential electors by discretionary appointment in 1868 and 1876 respectively.

The 1824 election was the first in which the popular vote was first fully recorded and reported. Since then, 19 presidential elections have occurred in which a candidate was elected or reelected without gaining a majority of the popular vote.McPherson, J. (2001). To the Best of My Ability: The American Presidents. Dorling Kindersly Publishing. Since the 1988 election, the popular vote of presidential elections has been decided by single-digit margins, the longest streak of close-election results since states began popularly electing presidents in the 1820s.

List

+ Parties: Federalist • Democratic-Republican • National Republican • Whig • Democratic • Republican • Progressive • IndependentVote outcomes: Winner received only a plurality of the popular vote • Winner lost the popular vote • Winner chosen by the House of Representatives Election Winner and party Runner-up and party Turnout Votes % % Margin Votes Margin 1788–89 Ind. 69/69 100% 100% 100% 43,782 43,782 ,No candidate 11.6% 1792 Ind. 132/132 28,579 28,579 6.3% 1796 Fed. 71/138 51.45% 53.45% 6.90% 35,726 4,611 D-R 20.1% 1800 D-R 73/138 52.90% 61.43% 22.86% 41,330 15,378 D-R 32.3% 1804 D-R 162/176 92.05% 72.79% 45.58% 104,110 65,191 Pinckney,Charles C. Pinckney Fed. 23.8% 1808 D-R 122/175 69.72% 64.74% 32.33% 124,732 62,301 Fed. 36.8% 1812 D-R 128/217 58.99% 50.37% 2.74% 140,431 7,650 D-R 40.4% 1816 D-R 183/217 84.33% 68.16% 37.24% 76,592 41,852 Fed. 23.5% 1820 D-R 231/232 99.57% 80.61% 64.69% 87,343 69,878 D-R 10.1% 1824 D-R 84/261 32.18% 30.92% −10.44% 113,142 −38,221 D-R 26.9% 1828 Dem. 178/261 68.20% 55.93% 12.25% 642,806 140,839 NR 57.3% 1832 Dem. 219/286 76.57% 54.74% 17.81% 702,735 228,628 NR 57.0% 1836 Dem. 170/294 57.82% 50.79% 14.20% 763,291 213,384 Whig 56.5% 1840 Whig 234/294 79.59% 52.87% 6.05% 1,275,583 145,938 Dem. 80.3% 1844 Dem. 170/275 61.82% 49.54% 1.45% 1,339,570 39,413 Whig 79.2% 1848 Whig 163/290 56.21% 47.28% 4.79% 1,360,235 137,882 Dem. 72.8% 1852 Dem. 254/296 85.81% 50.83% 6.95% 1,605,943 219,525 Whig 69.5% 1856 Dem. 174/296 58.78% 45.29% 12.20% 1,835,140 494,472 Rep. 79.4% 1860 Rep. 180/303 59.41% 39.65% 10.13% 1,855,993 474,049 Dem. 81.8% 1864 Rep. 212/233 90.99% 55.03% 10.08% 2,211,317 405,090 Dem. 76.3% 1868 Rep. 214/294 72.79% 52.66% 5.32% 3,013,790 304,810 Dem. 80.9% 1872 Rep. 286/352 81.25% 55.58% 11.80% 3,597,439 763,729 Dem. 72.1% 1876 Rep. 185/369 50.14% 47.92% −3.00% 4,034,142 −252,666 Dem. 82.6% 1880 Rep. 214/369 57.99% 48.31% 0.09% 4,453,337 1,898 Dem. 80.5% 1884 Dem. 219/401 54.61% 48.85% 0.57% 4,914,482 57,579 Rep. 78.2% 1888 Rep. 233/401 58.10% 47.80% −0.83% 5,443,892 −90,596 Dem. 80.5% 1892 Dem. 277/444 62.39% 46.02% 3.01% 5,553,898 363,099 Rep. 75.8% 1896 Rep. 271/447 60.63% 51.02% 4.31% 7,112,138 601,331 Dem. 79.6% 1900 Rep. 292/447 65.23% 51.64% 6.12% 7,228,864 857,932 Dem. 73.7% 1904 Rep. 336/476 70.59% 56.42% 18.83% 7,630,557 2,546,677 Dem. 65.5% 1908 Rep. 321/483 66.46% 51.57% 8.53% 7,678,335 1,269,356 Dem. 65.7% 1912 Dem. 435/531 81.92% 41.84% 14.44% 6,296,284 2,173,563 Prog. 59.0% 1916 Dem. 277/531 52.17% 49.24% 3.12% 9,126,868 578,140 Rep. 61.8% 1920 Rep. 404/531 76.08% 60.32% 26.17% 16,144,093 7,004,432 Dem. 49.2% 1924 Rep. 382/531 71.94% 54.04% 25.22% 15,723,789 7,337,547 Dem. 48.9% 1928 Rep. 444/531 83.62% 58.21% 17.41% 21,427,123 6,411,659 Dem. 56.9% 1932 Dem. 472/531 88.89% 57.41% 17.76% 22,821,277 7,060,023 Rep. 56.9% 1936 Dem. 523/531 98.49% 60.80% 24.26% 27,752,648 11,070,786 Rep. 61.0% 1940 Dem. 449/531 84.56% 54.74% 9.96% 27,313,945 4,966,201 Rep. 62.4% 1944 Dem. 432/531 81.36% 53.39% 7.50% 25,612,916 3,594,987 Rep. 55.9% 1948 Dem. 303/531 57.06% 49.55% 4.48% 24,179,347 2,188,055 Rep. 52.2% 1952 Rep. 442/531 83.24% 55.18% 10.85% 34,075,529 6,700,439 Dem. 62.3% 1956 Rep. 457/531 86.06% 57.37% 15.40% 35,579,180 9,551,152 Dem. 60.2% 1960 Dem. 303/537 56.42% 49.72% 0.17% 34,220,984 112,827 Rep. 63.8% 1964 Dem. 486/538 90.33% 61.05% 22.58% 43,129,040 15,953,286 Rep. 62.8% 1968 Rep. 301/538 55.95% 43.42% 0.70% 31,783,783 511,944 Dem. 62.5% 1972 Rep. 520/538 96.65% 60.67% 23.15% 47,168,710 17,995,488 Dem. 56.2% 1976 Dem. 297/538 55.20% 50.08% 2.06% 40,831,881 1,683,247 Rep. 54.8% 1980 Rep. 489/538 90.89% 50.75% 9.74% 43,903,230 8,422,115 Dem. 54.2% 1984 Rep. 525/538 97.58% 58.77% 18.21% 54,455,472 16,878,120 Dem. 55.2% 1988 Rep. 426/538 79.18% 53.37% 7.72% 48,886,597 7,077,121 Dem. 52.8% 1992 Dem. 370/538 68.77% 43.01% 5.56% 44,909,889 5,805,339 Rep. 58.1% 1996 Dem. 379/538 70.45% 49.23% 8.51% 47,401,185 8,203,716 Rep. 51.7% 2000 Rep. 271/538 50.47% 47.87% −0.51% 50,456,002 −543,895 Dem. 54.2% 2004 Rep. 286/538 53.16% 50.73% 2.46% 62,040,610 3,012,166 Dem. 60.1% 2008 Dem. 365/538 67.84% 52.93% 7.27% 69,498,516 9,550,193 Rep. 61.6% 2012 Dem. 332/538 61.71% 51.06% 3.86% 65,915,795 4,982,291 Rep. 58.6% 2016 Rep. 304/538 56.50% 46.09% −2.09% 62,984,828 −2,868,686 Dem. 60.1% 2020 Dem. 306/538 56.88% 51.31% 4.45% 81,283,501 7,059,526 Rep. 66.6% 2024 Rep. 312/538 57.99% 49.80% 1.48% 77,302,580 2,284,967 Dem. 64.1%

Timeline

See also List of United States presidential candidates by number of votes received List of United States presidential elections by Electoral College margin List of United States presidential elections in which the winner lost the popular vote National Popular Vote Interstate Compact

References

Bibliography Leip, David. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Peters, Gerhard. Voter Turnout in Presidential Elections.

External links How close were U.S. Presidential Elections? - Michael Sheppard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology