United States presidential election in Alabama, 1960

United States presidential election in Alabama, 1960
Alabama
November 8, 1960
All 11 Alabama votes to the Electoral College
 
Nominee John F. Kennedy Richard Nixon Unpledged Electors
Harry F. Byrd
Party Democratic Republican Southern Democrat
Home state Massachusetts California Virginia
Running mate Lyndon B. Johnson Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. Strom Thurmond
Electoral vote 5 0 6
Popular vote 318,303 237,981 324,050
Percentage 56.4% 42.2% –

The United States presidential election in Alabama, 1960 was held on November 8, 1960. Eleven Democratic electors were elected, of whom six voted for Harry F. Byrd and five for John F. Kennedy.[1]

In Alabama, voters voted for electors individually instead of as a slate, as in the other 49 states. There were 22 electors on the ballot, eleven Republicans and eleven Democrats. Voters could vote for up to eleven candidates. As a result of a state primary, the Democratic Party had a mixed slate of electors, five being pledged to Kennedy and the remaining six being unpledged.[2][3] The highest vote for a presidential elector was 324,050 votes for Frank M. Dixon, who was unpledged; the highest vote for an elector pledged to Kennedy was 318,303 for C. G. Allen, and the highest vote for a Republican elector was 237,981 for Cecil Durham.[2] As a result, six unpledged electors and five electors pledged to Kennedy were elected. All six elected unpledged electors cast their vote for Byrd.[4]

Varying methods have been used to break down the vote into Kennedy and unpledged votes. One method is to take the 318,303 votes as Kennedy votes and the 324,050 votes as unpledged votes, giving a total much higher than the actual votes cast.[5] Another is to take the 318,303 votes as Kennedy votes and the balance (7,958 votes) as unpledged votes.[6] A third is to split the 324,050 in the proportion of 5/11 to 6/11, giving 147,295 votes for Kennedy and 176,755 for unpledged electors.[7] In all cases Richard Nixon has 237,981 votes. If the last method were used, it would mean that Nixon not only won the popular vote in Alabama, but won it nationally.[3][7]

Results

 General Election Results
Party Nominee Popular Vote Percentage Electoral Vote
Democratic Unpledged Democratic electors** 324,050* – 6
Democratic John F. Kennedy 318,303* 56.39% 5
Republican Richard Nixon 237,981 42.16% 0
Others 8,189 0.67% 0
Total 564,478 100%

*Presidential Electors were elected as individuals rather than as a slate. The vote here is for the highest unpledged elector and the highest elector pledged to Kennedy, respectively.
**All 6 Unpledged Electors voted for Harry F. Byrd

References

  1. ↑ "Alabama". 270 to Win. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Alabama and the 1960 Popular Vote". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  3. 1 2 Trende, Sean. "Did JFK Lose the Popular Vote?". RealClearPolitics. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  4. ↑ "1960 Presidential General Election Results - Alabama". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  5. ↑ "Kennedy Wins 1960 Presidential Election in Closest Race of the 20th Century". CQ Almanac Online. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  6. ↑ White, Theodore H. (1961). The Making of the President, 1960. p. 461.
  7. 1 2 Fund, John (November 20, 2003). "A Minority President". Opinion Journal. Archived from the original on November 23, 2003. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
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