By NBC’s David Murphy
An Election Day tie in the Electoral College is unlikely, but it’s not impossible. In fact, it’s happened before. In the election of 1800, when party politics were brand new, each elector was allowed to cast two votes for President. The idea was that whoever came in first would be President and whoever came in second would become Vice President. The plan hit a snag, however, when Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, both members of the new Democratic-Republican party, each received 73 electoral votes.
The matter was sent to the House, where each state was allowed to cast one vote for President, with the winner needing the majority of the 16 states. 35 times the House voted and 35 times the vote was 8 to 6 with 2 states abstaining because their delegations were split. No majority. Finally, after much backroom negotiating, most notably by Alexander Hamilton, Burr-supporting congressmen from the deadlocked states of Maryland and Virginia chose not to vote, allowing the states to throw their support behind Jefferson on the 36th and final ballot.









