A presidential election was held in Kentucky from November 11–13, 1816 as part of the 1816 United States presidential election. The Democratic-Republican ticket of the U.S. secretary of state James Monroe and the governor of New York Daniel D. Tompkins was elected unopposed. The Federalist Party failed to nominate a candidate. Monroe won the national election handily, defeating the senior U.S. senator from New York Rufus King, who received 34 votes from unpledged electors despite not being a candidate. In Kentucky, 30 candidates ran in three four-member electoral districts, all pledged to Monroe; complete popular vote returns for all but the 2nd district have been lost.

General election Summary Kentucky chose twelve electors from three electoral districts, each represented by four members. Returns from the 1st district have been lost. From the 3rd district, only the returns from Fayette County survive. In contrast, returns from all but two counties in the 2nd district have been located.

Nineteenth century election laws required voters to vote directly for members of the Electoral College rather than for president. This sometimes resulted in small differences in the number of votes cast for electors pledged to the same presidential candidate if some voters did not vote for all the electors nominated by a party. In Kentucky, voters in each district had the option to vote for four out of between seven and fifteen candidates—all Democratic-Republicans pledged to Monroe and Tompkins. The below table calculates Monroe's statewide popular vote by adding the votes for the most popular elector in each district. In counties where the district winner received fewer votes than one or several candidates, this method may understate Monroe's statewide total.

Results by district The below table counts the result for the most popular elector pledged to Monroe in each district with surviving returns. It thus differs slightly from the county results table, which calculates the Democratic-Republican vote from the results for the most popular Monroe elector in each county.

District Electoralvotes James MonroeDemocratic-Republican Total Votes Percent Electoralvotes Kentucky–1 4 4 Kentucky–2 4 1,508 100.00 4 1,508 Kentucky–3 4 356 100.00 4 356 TOTAL 12 1,864 100.00 12 1,864

District 1 Adair — Allen — Barren — Breckinridge — Butler — Caldwell — Christian — Cumberland — Daviess — Green — Grayson — Hardin — Henderson — Hopkins — Livingston — Logan — Muhlenberg — Ohio — Pulaski — Union — Warren — Wayne

+ 1816 United States presidential election in Kentucky's 1st electoral district Party Candidate Votes Democratic-Republican Robert Ewing Democratic-Republican Samuel Caldwell Democratic-Republican Samuel Murrell Democratic-Republican Alexander Adair Democratic-Republican Simeon Buford Democratic-Republican Robert E. Yates Democratic-Republican William W. Baptist Democratic-Republican Presley O'Bannon Democratic-Republican Henry Towns Democratic-Republican John W. Powell Democratic-Republican William Harris Democratic-Republican John W. Delany Democratic-Republican Henry Dixon Democratic-Republican John P. Oldham Democratic-Republican John DeWitt

District 2 Bullitt — Casey — Clay — Estill — Franklin — Gallatin — Garrard — Henry — Jefferson — Knox — Lincoln — Madison — Mercer — Nelson — Rockcastle — Shelby — Washington

+ 1816 United States presidential election in Kentucky's 2nd electoral district Party Candidate Votes Democratic-Republican William Lee 1,508 Democratic-Republican Willis A. Logan 1,454 Democratic-Republican Richard Taylor 1,344 Democratic-Republican William Irvine 1,139 Democratic-Republican Robert B. McAfee 803 Democratic-Republican Joseph Pollard 444 Democratic-Republican David Oliver 409

District 3 Bath — Boone — Bourbon — Bracken — Campbell — Clark — Fayette — Fleming — Floyd — Greenup — Harrison — Jessamine — Lewis — Mason — Montgomery — Nicholas — Pendleton — Scott — Woodford

+ 1816 United States presidential election in Kentucky's 3rd electoral district Party Candidate Votes Democratic-Republican Thomas Bodley 356 Democratic-Republican Hubbard Taylor 234 Democratic-Republican Robert Trimble 200 Democratic-Republican Thomas D. Owings 142 Democratic-Republican Duval Payne 140 Democratic-Republican Walker Baylor 100 Democratic-Republican John Jouitt 42 Democratic-Republican William Moore 12

Results by county The below table counts the result for the most popular elector pledged to Monroe in each county with surviving returns. It thus differs slightly from the district results table, which calculates the Democratic-Republican vote from the results for the most popular Monroe elector in each district.

County James MonroeDemocratic-Republican Total Votes Percent Adair 1 Allen 1 Barren 1 Bath 3 Boone 3 Bourbon 3 Bracken 3 Breckinridge 1 Bullitt 2 35 100.00 35 Butler 1 Caldwell 1 Campbell 3 Christian 1 Clark 3 Casey 2 57 100.00 57 Clay 2 47 100.00 47 Cumberland 1 Daviess 1 Estill 2 26 100.00 26 Fayette 3 356 100.00 356 Fleming 3 Floyd 3 Franklin 2 260 100.00 260 Gallatin 2 78 100.00 78 Garrard 2 73 100.00 73 Grayson 1 Green 1 Greenup 3 Hardin 1 Harrison 3 Henderson 1 Henry 2 157 100.00 157 Hopkins 1 Jefferson 2 391 100.00 391 Jessamine 3 Knox 2 Lewis 3 Lincoln 2 136 100.00 136 Livingston 1 Logan 1 Madison 2 202 100.00 202 Mason 3 Mercer 2 152 100.00 152 Montgomery 3 Nelson 2 90 100.00 90 Muhlenberg 1 Nicholas 3 Ohio 1 Pendleton 3 Pulaski 1 Rockcastle 2 39 100.00 39 Scott 3 Shelby 2 134 100.00 134 Union 1 Warren 1 Washington 2 Wayne 1 Woodford 3 District total 1 District total 2 1,877 100.00 1,877 District total 3 356 100.00 356 TOTAL 2,233 100.00 2,233

Electoral college + 1816 United States Electoral College vote in Kentucky For President For Vice President Candidate Party Home state Electoralvote Candidate Party Home state Electoralvote James Monroe Democratic-Republican Virginia 12 Daniel D. Tompkins Democratic-Republican New York 12

See also United States presidential elections in Kentucky

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