…Will 2024 be the Same?

The election of 1876 at the time, seemed to be an election to end all elections. The election candidates were, Rutheford B. Hayes (Republican) and Samuel J. Tilden (Democrat). However, the turmoil of the election came to head during the counting of the ballots and subsequently affecting the electoral votes. Samuel J. Tilden won the popular vote in the United States but was one electoral vote short of winning the majority, that would make him President of the United States. However, the states of South Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida (19 electoral votes) and 1 electoral vote of Oregon was still in dispute. However, it wasn’t until the United States Congress created the Electoral Commission to break the deadlock between the two candidates. However, there was more than just the electoral votes that triggered this commission. Claims of stolen ballots and electoral fraud was reflected in the political cartoon from Thomas Nast (September 26, 1840 – December 7, 1902) published in Harpers Weekly on December 23, 1876. Thomas Nast, after  was considered the father of the American cartoon.

The political cartoon entitled “A National Game that is Played Out” demonstrates how the vote kept getting kicked between the four different states that had disputed electoral votes. The Republican controlled states disagreed with the votes because the Democratic controlled counties had put barriers for black, male voters. These barriers included creating false ballots, parliamentary violence, and violence against black, male voters. However, even within this corruption, to make sure the 1876 election went through they had to let white supremacy win for fear that a president would not be inaugurated on January 20th.

One would think that corruption techniques and claims would remain in the 1800’s but in the 2020 election, there once again was cries of voter fraud. Unlike in 1876 when there were ballot boxes stolen, 2020 had other election “fraud”. The sitting president (Donald Trump) claimed that the election was stolen (this was incorrect – he just didn’t want to admit that he lost) and claiming that dead people voted (how does a dead person vote?). However, the most bizarre claim came from an Arizona election audit team in Maricopa County who would be analyzing the ballots for bamboo fibers in order to make sure that China didn’t submit any ballots in the 2020 election. This investigation was done on the belief by some election officials who were allies to Donald Trump that China smuggled in ballots to interfere and influence the outcome of the 2020 election, which the US Intelligence Department deemed incorrect.

What about the future? Historians cannot predict the future but can use the past to interpret what is going on in the present. Former President Donald Trump, to this day, still believes that he won the 2020 United States Presidential election. Furthermore, he is turning to bully tactics comparable to the 1876 election with poll worker intimidation and intimidation of voters encouraging police to “Watch for the voter fraud, because we win without voter fraud… They’re afraid of you [police] people”. Democracy goes through cycles, and it is important to realize what goes around comes around – what happened in 1876 has and could happen again.