In a message dated 2/11/2005 9:46:34 PM Central Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
A government can be legally constituted with 37% or 44% of the vote if that's a majority. Look at us south of your border.
Wrong terms! A majority is more than 50%. A PLURALITY is the most votes received even if it is less than 50%. In the United States there have been a number of presidents elected to office without a majority of popular vote - Harry Truman comes immediately to mind.
What about 1824?
Andrew Jackson rcvd 43 per cent of the popular vote and 99 electoral votes; but since that was not 50 per cent of the electoral college, it was thrown into House of Representatives. John Quincy Adams had rcvd 30 per cent of the vote and 84 ballots, William Crawford - 13 per cent of the vote and 43 ballots, Henry Clay - 13 per cent of the vote and 37 ballots. Clay threw his support to Adams, who became president with the votes of 13 of the 24 states.
Think of the uproar that would cause now!
Since then, the following American Presidents have failed to receive 50 per cent of the popular vote -
Polk - 1844
Taylor 1848
Buchanan - 1856
Lincoln - 1860
Hayes - 1876
Garfield 1880
Cleveland - 1884
Harrison 1888
Cleveland 1892
Wilson - 1912/1916
Truman 1948
Kennedy - 1960
Nixon - 1968
Clinton - 1992/1996
Bush 2000
Don C
-- He who believes himself spiritual proves he is not.
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