Any documentation: Re: Voting

» Brian Tubbs - Re: Voting

I'll throw my two cents on this...

Washington's election was pretty much an Electoral College affair. The different states all chose their electors according to their own methods. Eventually, all the states would hold popular elections to elect slates of electors for certain candidates (with the citizens casting public votes for those presidential candidates, but in actuality, voting for the electors). In the Washington era, that was all just starting to get worked out. I am not certain of the number - I'll have to research it - but several states, I'm pretty sure, just had their legislatures choose the electors (completely bypassing the general electorate). I say all that then to emphasize the point that Washington's election was very different in character and nature from Lincoln's election. Therefore, it makes it difficult to research the kind of question you're asking.

However, it IS an interesting question. I would offer that it's unlikely any voters from the 1788 or 1792 elections survived to cast ballots in the 1860 election.

Most states in the early U.S. required their voters to be at least 21 years of age. Certainly, they had to be men of property (although some widows did vote in New Jersey and one other state - either Maryland or Massachusetts, that we know of). This means that a voter in 1792 (and we're dealing with a small number, since only those states that chose their electors by popular ballot would be pertinent here) would have been roughly 21 years of age or older. We'll say 20, just to keep the number round. I seriously doubt anyone younger than that voted.

If a voter were 20 in 1792, he would be 88 in 1860, if I'm not mistaken in my math. This would fairly significantly exceed the average life expectancy of that era.

We DO know that there were no surviving American Revolutionary War veterans alive at the time of the Civil War.

My guess is that there were NOT any voters who cast ballots in the Washington election and again in the Lincoln election.

I could be wrong. Wouldn't be the first time. :-)

That's my guess, though. Have you heard differently?

-- posted by Brian Tubbs