Editing Faithless elector (section)

==List of faithless electors==
{{more citations needed section|date=November 2020|reason=It should be 100% clear through sources that each person in this list was (1) pledged to vote for a particular party's candidates or particular candidates and (2) did not do that. If the elector contested that status or if that status is not clear, that must be made clear here.}}
The following is a list of all faithless electors. The number preceding each entry is the number of faithless electors in the given year's election.

===1788 to 1800: Before the 12th Amendment===
'''3''' – [[1788–89 United States presidential election|1788–89 election]]: three electors, two from Maryland and one from Virginia, did not vote{{efn|Additionally, another elector from Virginia was not chosen because an election district failed to submit returns.}}

'''3''' – [[1792 United States presidential election|1792 election]]: three electors, two from Maryland and one from Vermont, did not vote

'''19''' – [[1796 United States presidential election|1796 election]]: [[Samuel Miles]], an elector from Pennsylvania, was pledged to vote for [[Federalist Party|Federalist]] presidential candidate [[John Adams]], but voted for [[Democratic-Republican Party|Democratic-Republican]] candidate Thomas Jefferson. He cast his other vote as pledged for [[Thomas Pinckney]]; there was no provision at the time for specifying president or vice president. An additional 18 electors voted for Adams as pledged, but refused to vote for Pinckney.<ref name="Alexander Hamilton by Chernow">Chernow, Ron. ''Alexander Hamilton''. New York: Penguin, 2004. p. 514.</ref> This was an attempt to foil Alexander Hamilton's rumored plan to elect Pinckney as president, and this resulted in the unintended outcome that Adams' opponent, Jefferson, was elected vice president instead of Adams' running mate, Pinckney. This was the only time in U.S. history that the president and vice president have been from different parties, except for [[1864 United States presidential election|1864]] (although in that year, while the president and the vice presidential running mate were from different parties, they ran on one ticket from the same third party), and the only time the winners were from different tickets.

The [[1800 United States presidential election|1800 election]] resulted in a deadlock, as there were no faithless Democratic-Republican electors: they all voted for both Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, forcing the tied decision to the House of Representatives. The Federalist Party would have avoided this problem had they won by pre-arranging for one of their electors from Rhode Island to not vote for their vice-presidential candidate [[Charles Cotesworth Pinckney]], instead voting for [[John Jay]]. The [[Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twelfth Amendment]] was ratified in 1804 changing the election procedure so that instead of casting two votes of the same type, electors would make an explicit choice for president and vice president.

===1804 to 1840===
'''6''' – [[1808 United States presidential election|1808 election]]: Six electors from New York were pledged to vote for [[Democratic-Republican Party|Democratic-Republican]] [[James Madison]] for president and former New York governor [[George Clinton (vice president)|George Clinton]] for vice president. Instead, they voted for Clinton for president, with three voting for Madison for vice president and the other three voting for [[James Monroe]] for vice president.<ref name="FairVote"/>

'''3''' – [[1812 United States presidential election|1812 election]]: Three electors pledged to vote for [[Federalist Party|Federalist]] vice-presidential candidate [[Jared Ingersoll]] instead voted for [[Elbridge Gerry]].<ref name="FairVote"/>

'''1''' – [[1820 United States presidential election|1820 election]]: [[William Plumer]] was pledged to vote for [[Democratic-Republican Party|Democratic-Republican]] presidential candidate [[James Monroe]], who was not contested for re-election, but he instead cast his vote for [[John Quincy Adams]], who was not a candidate in the election. Some historians{{who|date=March 2023}} contend Plumer wanted George Washington to be the only unanimous selection, or that he wanted to draw attention to his friend Adams as a potential candidate. These claims are disputed.<ref name="Edwards">{{cite book|last1=Edwards|first1=George|title=Why the Electoral College Is Bad for America|date=2004|publisher=Yale University Press}}</ref> Plumer also cast his vice-presidential vote for Richard Rush, not Daniel D. Tompkins as pledged.

'''7''' – [[1828 United States presidential election|1828 election]]: Seven of the nine electors from Georgia refused to vote for vice-presidential candidate [[John C. Calhoun]]; they instead cast their vice-presidential votes for [[William Smith (South Carolina senator)|William Smith]].<ref name="FairVote"/>

'''30''' – [[1832 United States presidential election|1832 election]]: All 30 electors from Pennsylvania refused to vote for the Democratic vice-presidential candidate, [[Martin Van Buren]], voting instead for [[William Wilkins (U.S. politician)|William Wilkins]].<ref name="FairVote"/>

'''23''' – [[1836 United States presidential election|1836 election]]: The 23 electors from Virginia were pledged to vote for [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] candidates [[Martin Van Buren]] for president and [[Richard Mentor Johnson|Richard M. Johnson]] for vice president. However, they refused to vote for Johnson because of his open liaison with an enslaved woman and voted instead for Senator [[William Smith (South Carolina senator)|William Smith]] of South Carolina, which left Johnson with 147 electoral votes, one short of a majority. Johnson was subsequently elected vice president after a [[contingent election]] in the [[United States Senate|Senate]].

'''1''' – [[1840 United States presidential election|1840 election]]: One elector from [[Virginia]], Arthur Smith of [[Isle of Wight County, Virginia|Isle of Wight County]], was pledged to vote for [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] candidates [[Martin Van Buren]] for president {{citation needed span|and [[Richard Mentor Johnson|Richard M. Johnson]] for vice president|date=November 2020|reason=Do we know for sure that Smith was "pledged" to vote for Johnson for VP? The other Viriginia electors voted for Tazewell for VP.}}; however, he voted for [[James K. Polk]] for vice president.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UqbQAAAAMAAJ|title=The Virginia Electors|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=UqbQAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA204&lpg=PA204 204]|date=12 December 1840|volume=10|issue=13|journal=[[New-York Tribune|The New-Yorker]]|via=[[Google Books]]|quote=The Electors meanwhile held a meeting, and decided that their constituents would be best satisfied, under the circumstances, by their voting for Col. R. M. Johnson for Vice President. Accordingly on the 2d their 23 votes were cast for Martin Van Buren as President, 22 for Col. R. M. Johnson as Vice President and 1 (Arthur Smith of Isle of Wight) for Gov. Jas. K. Polk of Tennessee.}}</ref><ref>Niles National Register, Vol. LIX, December 5, 1840, page 217</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.270towin.com/1840_Election/|title=1840 Presidential Election|access-date=23 November 2020|website=[[270toWin]]}}</ref>{{clarify|date=November 2020|reason=The other electors from Virginia voted for Tazewell for VP. Were the Virginia electors "pledged" to vote for VanBuren and Tazewell, and then Smith voted for Polk? Or were all the electors from Virginia unfaithful on the VP votes?}}{{better source needed|date=November 2020|reason=Can't find the newspaper online; can't find a confirming reliable source. Any scholarly source would be good.}}

===1864 to 1912===
'''1''' – [[1864 United States presidential election|1864 election]]: A Nevada elector was snowbound and therefore prevented from casting any ballots.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rocha |first1=Guy |title=Nevada Myths |url=https://nsla.nv.gov/myths |website=Nevada State Library and Archives |access-date=14 March 2025|archive-date=September 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220908135411/https://nsla.nv.gov/myths |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Nevada Presidential Election Voting History|url=https://www.270towin.com/states/Nevada|access-date=2020-11-13|website=270toWin.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RSoXAAAAYAAJ&q=Nevada+1864|title=The Tribune Almanac and Political Register|date=1874|publisher=Tribune Association|page=56|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hFNBAQAAMAAJ&q=1864+election,+Nevada+two+electoral+votes&pg=PA61|title=Handbook of the United States of America: And Guide to Emigration; Giving the Latest and Most Complete Statistics ...|date=1883|publisher=G. Watson|pages=61|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DFNHAQAAIAAJ&q=1864+election,+Nevada+two+electoral+votes&pg=PA84|title=United States Congressional serial set|date=1869|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|pages=84|language=en}}</ref>

'''66''' – [[1872 United States presidential election|1872 election]]: [[Horace Greeley]], the Liberal Republican/Democrat presidential nominee, died on November 29 shortly before the Electoral College vote in December. Three electors voted for the deceased Greeley as pledged, while the other 63 electors pledged to Greeley voted for other people, with 42 voting for non-candidate [[Thomas A. Hendricks]], 18 voting for Greeley's running mate, [[B. Gratz Brown|Benjamin Gratz Brown]], 2 voting for non-candidate [[Charles J. Jenkins]], and 1 voting for non-candidate [[David Davis (Supreme Court justice)|David Davis]]. The three posthumous presidential votes cast for Greeley were rejected by Congress.<ref>{{National Archives EV source| year=1872| as of=July 31, 2005}}</ref>

'''27''' – [[1896 United States presidential election|1896 election]]: The Democratic Party and the [[People's Party (United States)|People's Party]] both ran [[William Jennings Bryan]] as their presidential candidate, but ran different candidates for vice president: the Democratic Party nominated [[Arthur Sewall]] and the People's Party nominated [[Thomas E. Watson]]. Although the Populist ticket did not win the popular vote in any state, 27 Democratic electors cast their vice-presidential vote for Watson instead of Sewall.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A00E7DF1231E033A2575AC0A9679D94659ED7CF | work=The New York Times | title=Senate and House Secured; Republican control in the next Congress assured. The House of Representatives Republican by More than Two – thirds Majority – Possible Loss of a Republican Senator from the State of Washington – Republicans and Populists Will Organize the Senate and Divide the Patronage | date=November 9, 1894 | access-date=May 26, 2010}}</ref>

'''8''' – [[1912 United States presidential election|1912 election]]: the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] vice-presidential candidate, [[James S. Sherman]], died six days before the popular election. The Republicans had won only two states, Utah and Vermont, and [[Nicholas Murray Butler|Nicholas M. Butler]] was hastily designated to receive the eight electoral votes that were pledged to Sherman. All eight Republican electors accordingly voted for Butler for vice president.<ref name="FairVote"/>

===1948 to 1988===
'''1''' – [[1948 United States presidential election|1948 election]]: Tennessee Elector [[Preston Parks]] was a candidate to be an elector for both the Democratic Party presidential candidate, [[Harry S. Truman]], and the [[States' Rights Democratic Party]] presidential candidate, [[Strom Thurmond]]. Though the national Democratic Party won the election, Parks had actively campaigned for Thurmond and he voted for Thurmond and his running mate [[Fielding L. Wright]].<ref name="Edwards" />

'''1''' – [[1956 United States presidential election|1956 election]]: Alabama Elector [[W. F. Turner]], pledged for Democrats [[Adlai Stevenson II|Adlai Stevenson]] and [[Estes Kefauver]], cast his votes for Judge [[Walter Burgwyn Jones]] and [[Herman Talmadge]], the former [[Governor of Georgia]].<ref name="Edwards" />

'''1''' – [[1960 United States presidential election|1960 election]]: Oklahoma Elector [[Henry D. Irwin]], pledged for Republicans [[Richard Nixon]] and [[Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.]], contacted the other 219 Republican electors to convince them to cast presidential electoral votes for Democratic non-candidate [[Harry F. Byrd]] and vice-presidential electoral votes for Republican [[Barry Goldwater]]. Most replied they had a moral obligation to vote for Nixon and Lodge, while Irwin voted for Byrd and Goldwater. Fourteen [[unpledged elector]]s (eight from Mississippi and six from Alabama) also voted for Byrd for president, but supported [[Strom Thurmond]] for vice president – since they were not pledged to anyone, their action was not faithless.<ref name="Edwards" />

'''1''' – [[1968 United States presidential election|1968 election]]: North Carolina Elector [[Lloyd W. Bailey]], pledged for Republicans [[Richard Nixon]] and [[Spiro Agnew]], cast his votes for [[American Independent Party]] candidates [[George Wallace]] and [[Curtis LeMay]]. Bailey later stated at a Senate hearing that he would have voted for Nixon and Agnew if his vote would have altered the outcome of the election.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.avagara.com/e_c/ec_unfaithful.htm#Bailey|title=Tales of the Unfaithful Electors: Dr. Lloyd W. Bailey|work=EC: The US Electoral College Web Zine|access-date=2008-05-17 |url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509192439/http://www.avagara.com:80/e_c/ec_unfaithful.htm|archive-date=2008-05-09}}</ref>

'''1''' – [[1972 United States presidential election|1972 election]]: Virginia Elector [[Roger MacBride]], pledged for Republicans [[Richard Nixon]] and [[Spiro Agnew]], cast his electoral votes for [[United States Libertarian Party|Libertarian]] candidates [[John Hospers]] and [[Tonie Nathan]]. MacBride's vice-presidential vote for Nathan was the first electoral vote cast for a woman in U.S. history.<ref name="first">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Boaz |first=David |author-link=David Boaz |editor-first=Ronald |editor-last=Hamowy |editor-link=Ronald Hamowy |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism |title=Nathan, Toni (1923– ) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yxNgXs3TkJYC&q=encyclopedia+of+libertarianism |doi=10.4135/9781412965811.n212 |year=2008 |publisher=[[SAGE Publishing|SAGE]]; [[Cato Institute]] |location=Thousand Oaks, CA |isbn=978-1-4129-6580-4 |oclc=750831024 |lccn=2008009151 |chapter=Nathan, Tonie (1923-) |pages=347|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

'''1''' – [[1976 United States presidential election|1976 election]]: Washington Elector [[Mike Padden]], pledged for Republicans [[Gerald Ford]] and [[Bob Dole]], cast his presidential electoral vote for [[Ronald Reagan]], who had challenged Ford for the Republican nomination. He cast his vice presidential vote, as pledged, for Dole.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Edwards|first1=George C.|title=Why the Electoral College Is Bad for America: Second Edition|date=2011}}</ref>

'''1''' – [[1988 United States presidential election|1988 election]]: West Virginia Elector [[Margarette Leach]], pledged for Democrats [[Michael Dukakis]] and [[Lloyd Bentsen]], instead cast her votes for the candidates in the reverse of their positions on the national ticket as a form of protest against the winner-take-all custom of the Electoral College; her presidential vote went to Bentsen and her vice-presidential vote to Dukakis.<ref>{{cite news |last=Johnson |first=Sharen Shaw |date=January 5, 1989 |title=Capital Line: [Final Edition] |work= USA Today  |quote=Even though Bensten sought the vice presidency, Margarette Leach of West Virginia voted for him to protest the Electoral College's winner-take-all custom.|id={{ProQuest|306154768}} }}</ref>

===2000 and 2004===
'''1''' – [[2000 United States presidential election|2000 election]]: Washington, D.C. Elector [[Barbara Lett-Simmons]], pledged for Democrats [[Al Gore]] and [[Joe Lieberman]], cast no electoral votes as a protest of [[District of Columbia voting rights|Washington D.C.'s lack of voting congressional representation]].<ref name=dcelector>{{cite news |last=Stout |first=David |date= December 19, 2000 |title= The 43rd President: The Electoral College; The Electors Vote, and the Surprises Are Few |newspaper= The New York Times |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/19/us/43rd-president-electoral-college-electors-vote-surprises-are-few.html |access-date= November 30, 2009 |quote= But it was Mr. Gore who suffered an erosion today. Lett-Simmons, a Gore elector from the District of Columbia, left her ballot blank to protest what she called the capital's "colonial status" – its lack of a voting representative in Congress.}}</ref> Lett-Simmons's electoral college abstention, the first since [[1864 United States presidential election|1864]], was intended to protest what Lett-Simmons referred to as the federal district's "colonial status".<ref name=dcelector/> Lett-Simmons described her blank ballot as an act of [[civil disobedience]], not an act of a faithless elector; Lett-Simmons supported Gore and Lieberman and would have voted for Gore and Lieberman if she had thought they had a chance to win.<ref name=dcelector/>

'''1''' – [[2004 United States presidential election|2004 election]]: An anonymous Minnesota elector, pledged for Democrats [[John Kerry]] and [[John Edwards]], cast their presidential vote for
<!-- NOTE TO EDITORS: The following name SHOULD BE "John Ewards." The point is that the elector spelled his name wrong. -->
{{sic|"John Ew|ards"}},<ref>{{cite web|date=December 17, 2004 |title=Vote for Edwards instead of Kerry shocks Minnesota electors |website=[[Star Tribune]] |url=http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5134791.html |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041217034158/http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5134791.html |archive-date=December 17, 2004 |df=mdy }}</ref> rather than Kerry, presumably by accident.<ref>{{cite web |title=MPR: Minnesota elector gives Edwards a vote; Kerry gets other nine |publisher=News.minnesota.publicradio.org |url=http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2004/12/13_ap_electors/ |access-date=May 5, 2009}}</ref> All of Minnesota's electors cast their vice presidential ballots for [[John Edwards]], including the elector who cast the anomalous presidential vote. Minnesota's electors cast secret ballots, so the identity of the faithless elector is not known. As a result of this incident, Minnesota statutes were amended to provide for public balloting of the electors' votes and invalidation of a vote cast for someone other than the candidate to whom the elector is pledged.<ref name="2004mistake">{{cite web|url=https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/the-electoral-college.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201122050255/https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/the-electoral-college.aspx|archive-date=22 November 2020|url-status=live|title=The Electoral College|date=11 November 2020|access-date=23 November 2020|website=[[National Conference of State Legislatures]]}}</ref><ref name="auto"/>

===2016===
{{main|Faithless electors in the 2016 United States presidential election}}
'''10''' – [[2016 United States presidential election|2016 election]]:

*In Washington, Democratic Party electors gave three presidential votes to [[Colin Powell]] and one to [[Faith Spotted Eagle]]<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/four-washington-electors-break-ranks-and-dont-vote-for-clinton/|title=Four Washington state electors break ranks and don't vote for Clinton|date=2016-12-19|newspaper=The Seattle Times|access-date=2016-12-19}}</ref> and these electors cast vice-presidential votes for [[Elizabeth Warren]], [[Maria Cantwell]], [[Susan Collins]], and [[Winona LaDuke]]. 
*In Hawaii, [[Bernie Sanders]] received one presidential vote and Elizabeth Warren received one vice-presidential vote.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hellmann |first=Jessie |date=2016-12-20 |title=Democratic elector in Hawaii votes for Sanders |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/news/311119-democratic-elector-in-hawaii-votes-for-sanders/ |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=The Hill |language=en-US}}</ref>
*In Texas, Christopher Suprun voted for [[John Kasich]] for president and William Greene voted for [[Ron Paul]], giving each one presidential vote. Suprun also voted for [[Carly Fiorina]] as vice president while Greene voted for [[Mike Pence]] as pledged.<ref name=":4">{{cite web|url=http://www.statesman.com/news/national-govt--politics/all-but-texas-members-the-electoral-college-choose-donald-trump/GSCDFHiXQvu3PiYSDMDryL/|title=All but 2 Texas members of the Electoral College choose Donald Trump|last=Walsh|first=Sean Collins|date=2016-12-19|website=Statesman|access-date=2016-12-24}}</ref>

In addition, three other electors attempted to vote against their pledges but had their votes invalidated:

*In Colorado, Kasich received one vote for president, which was invalidated, and the elector was replaced by one who cast a vote for [[Hillary Clinton]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Detrow|first1=Scott|title=Donald Trump Secures Electoral College Win, With Few Surprises|url=https://www.npr.org/2016/12/19/506188169/donald-trump-poised-to-secure-electoral-college-win-with-few-surprises|website=NPR|date=December 19, 2016|access-date=19 December 2016}}</ref> 
*In Maine, a Democratic Party elector, David Bright, attempted to vote for [[Bernie Sanders]] for president but ultimately cast a vote for Clinton.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bellware |first=Kim |date=2016-12-19 |title=Electoral College Faithless Elector Foiled Trying To Vote For Bernie Sanders |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/maine-elector-bernie-sanders_n_585815ebe4b0b3ddfd8db1f6 |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=HuffPost |language=en}}</ref>
*A [[Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party]] elector voted for Bernie Sanders for president and [[Tulsi Gabbard]] for vice president, but these votes were invalidated and the elector was replaced by an alternate elector who then cast votes for Clinton and [[Tim Kaine]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bakst |first=Brian |date=2016-12-19 |title=Minnesota electors cast 10 votes for Clinton |url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/12/19/minnesota-electors-cast-10-votes-for-clinton |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=MPR News |language=en}}</ref>