The most notable contest was that over the returns from Florida,
Louisiana, South Carolina, and Oregon, in 1877. If the twenty-one
electoral votes from these States should be counted for the
Republican candidates, they would be elected. Should just one of
those votes be given to the Democratic nominees, the Republicans
would lose the election. Now the Senate at this time was
Republican, and the House Democratic, and therefore no
satisfactory adjustment could be reached, because of party
prejudices. The excitement throughout the country was finally
relieved by the agreement on the part of both houses to refer the
decision to an "Electoral Commission."
This commission consisted of five judges of the Supreme Court, five
representatives, and five senators. After examining the returns,
the commission decided, March 2, 1877, by a vote of eight to seven,
that Hayes and Wheeler, the Republican candidates, had received the
twenty-one votes in dispute, thus giving them one hundred and
eighty-five electoral votes, and that Tilden and Hendricks, the
Democratic candidates, had received one hundred and eighty-four
electoral votes.
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