Changes

Interestingly, all of these contested elections often were resolved peacefully without violence. Arguably, the 1860 election was a heavily contested election, one which did not lead to a peaceful resolution as the Civil War was the result of this election. However, the results were generally clear, with Abraham Lincoln winning that election and capturing the majority of electoral votes. One could argue that Civil War was inevitable by 1860 given the likelihood the Republican candidate winning that year. Only the 2000 election resulted in the Supreme Court getting involved, while the other controversial elections often led to either the losing candidates resolving to run again, and often winning the next time, or a compromise result was enacted between the parties (1876). The 20th century has generally seen mostly smooth elections where candidates obtain the majority of popular votes and electoral votes; however, the 2000 and 2016 election have shown that the popular vote often does not align with the electoral college vote even in the modern era.