Electoral Odyssey / Interactive election atlas

1796 Presidential Election

See how the first Electoral College system worked before electors cast separate votes for president and vice president.

Electoral College · 1789–2024County popular vote · 2000–2024

Election rules

Original Electoral College

Electoral result

71 EV · John Adams

Map dated

1796-12-31

Electoral College result

How the states voted

Display

View

Election-date state boundaries colored by exact stored electoral recipients. Split allocations use multiple colors.

This 1796 result uses the 2020 poll-closing chronology as a cinematic reference sequence, not historical 1796 polling or call timing.

Timing source: The Green Papers 2020 poll-closing chronology

Reference poll-close stream

Electoral Token Board

Token width reflects stored electoral votes

  1. VA
  2. VA
  3. VA
  4. VA
  5. VA
  6. VA
  7. SC
  8. SC
  9. GA
  10. GA
  11. KY
  12. KY
  13. VT
  14. VT
  15. NC
  16. NC
  17. NC
  18. NC
  19. NC
  20. MA
  21. MA
  22. MA
  23. MA
  24. PA
  25. PA
  26. PA
  27. PA
  28. MD
  29. MD
  30. MD
  31. MD
  32. MD
  33. CT
  34. CT
  35. CT
  36. NJ
  37. NJ
  38. NH
  39. NH
  40. RI
  41. RI
  42. DE
  43. DE
  44. TN
  45. TN
  46. NY
  47. NY

Founding Rules

The rules were different.

Before the Twelfth Amendment took effect, electors did not cast separate votes for president and vice president. These results preserve that combined voting system exactly as it appeared in the historical record.

1789—2024

Sixty elections, one continuous record

Swipe or scroll through the record. Arrow keys move from a focused year.

  1. 1789First election
  2. 1792Founding Rules
  3. 1796Founding Rules
  4. 1800Founding Rules
  5. 1804Separate offices
  6. 1808Electoral record
  7. 1812Electoral record
  8. 1816Electoral record
  9. 1820Electoral record
  10. 1824Electoral record
  11. 1828Electoral record
  12. 1832Electoral record
  13. 1836Electoral record
  14. 1840Electoral record
  15. 1844Electoral record
  16. 1848Electoral record
  17. 1852Electoral record
  18. 1856Electoral record
  19. 1860Electoral record
  20. 1864Electoral record
  21. 1868Electoral record
  22. 1872Electoral record
  23. 1876Electoral record
  24. 1880Electoral record
  25. 1884Electoral record
  26. 1888Electoral record
  27. 1892Electoral record
  28. 1896Electoral record
  29. 1900Electoral record
  30. 1904Electoral record
  31. 1908Electoral record
  32. 1912Electoral record
  33. 1916Electoral record
  34. 1920Electoral record
  35. 1924Electoral record
  36. 1928Electoral record
  37. 1932Electoral record
  38. 1936Electoral record
  39. 1940Electoral record
  40. 1944Electoral record
  41. 1948Electoral record
  42. 1952Electoral record
  43. 1956Electoral record
  44. 1960Electoral record
  45. 1964Electoral record
  46. 1968Electoral record
  47. 1972Electoral record
  48. 1976Electoral record
  49. 1980Electoral record
  50. 1984Electoral record
  51. 1988Electoral record
  52. 1992Electoral record
  53. 1996Electoral record
  54. 2000County detail begins
  55. 2004Electoral record
  56. 2008Electoral record
  57. 2012Electoral record
  58. 2016Electoral record
  59. 2020Electoral record
  60. 2024Latest stored cycle

Official result

Election summary

President
John Adams [Federalist]
Main opponent
Thomas Jefferson [Democratic-Republican]
Source note
Prior to ratification of the 12th Amendment in 1804, each elector was given two votes and required to cast each for a different person. The person with the highest total of votes was elected President and the person with the second highest total was elected Vice President.

State-by-state result

Electoral votes by state

A state appears more than once when its electoral votes were split between candidates.

StateCandidateElectoral votes
CONNECTICUT CTJohn Adams, of Massachusetts9
CONNECTICUT CTOthes15
CONNECTICUT CTThomas Pinckney, of South Carolina4
DELAWARE DEJohn Adams, of Massachusetts3
DELAWARE DEThomas Pinckney, of South Carolina3
GEORGIA GAOthes14
GEORGIA GAThomas Jefferson, of Virginia4
KENTUCKY KYAaron Burr, of New York4
KENTUCKY KYThomas Jefferson, of Virginia4
MARYLAND MDJohn Adams, of Massachusetts7
MARYLAND MDThomas Jefferson, of Virginia4
MARYLAND MDThomas Pinckney, of South Carolina4
MARYLAND MDAaron Burr, of New York3
MARYLAND MDOthes12
MASSACHUSETTS MAJohn Adams, of Massachusetts16
MASSACHUSETTS MAThomas Pinckney, of South Carolina13
MASSACHUSETTS MAOthes12
MASSACHUSETTS MAOliver Ellsworth, of Connecticut1
NEW HAMPSHIRE NHJohn Adams, of Massachusetts6
NEW HAMPSHIRE NHOliver Ellsworth, of Connecticut6
NEW JERSEY NJJohn Adams, of Massachusetts7
NEW JERSEY NJThomas Pinckney, of South Carolina7
NEW YORK NYJohn Adams, of Massachusetts12
NEW YORK NYThomas Pinckney, of South Carolina12
NORTH CAROLINA NCThomas Jefferson, of Virginia11
NORTH CAROLINA NCAaron Burr, of New York6
NORTH CAROLINA NCOthes15
NORTH CAROLINA NCJohn Adams, of Massachusetts1
NORTH CAROLINA NCThomas Pinckney, of South Carolina1
PENNSYLVANIA PAThomas Jefferson, of Virginia14
PENNSYLVANIA PAAaron Burr, of New York13
PENNSYLVANIA PAThomas Pinckney, of South Carolina2
PENNSYLVANIA PAJohn Adams, of Massachusetts1
RHODE ISLAND RIJohn Adams, of Massachusetts4
RHODE ISLAND RIOliver Ellsworth, of Connecticut4
SOUTH CAROLINA SCThomas Jefferson, of Virginia8
SOUTH CAROLINA SCThomas Pinckney, of South Carolina8
TENNESSEE TNAaron Burr, of New York3
TENNESSEE TNThomas Jefferson, of Virginia3
VERMONT VTJohn Adams, of Massachusetts4
VERMONT VTThomas Pinckney, of South Carolina4
VIRGINIA VAThomas Jefferson, of Virginia20
VIRGINIA VASamuel Adams, of Massachusetts15
VIRGINIA VAOthes14
VIRGINIA VAAaron Burr, of New York1
VIRGINIA VAJohn Adams, of Massachusetts1
VIRGINIA VAThomas Pinckney, of South Carolina1

Data X-Ray v1

Trace the scene

The display layer never replaces the observed NARA label or the checksum-pinned geometry identity.

Candidate identities
John Adams
Observed: John Adams, of Massachusetts
Thomas Jefferson
Observed: Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia
Thomas Pinckney
Observed: Thomas Pinckney, of South Carolina
Aaron Burr
Observed: Aaron Burr, of New York
Othes1
Observed: Othes1
Samuel Adams
Observed: Samuel Adams, of Massachusetts
Oliver Ellsworth
Observed: Oliver Ellsworth, of Connecticut
Geometry build
Version
labs-election-states:1796:overview
Reference date
1796-12-31
Artifact SHA-256
0bd5cb10e729351134128ce4e797dfbde5969ed51f65f8daea121043b21dd49e
Office and import semantics

undifferentiated_president_vp · labs-elections:6dbf3e52c41a13254056a211 · 15 validation checks passed · 0 failed

Coverage and interpretation notes

  • The rules were different

    Before the Twelfth Amendment system took effect, electors did not cast separate modern presidential and vice-presidential ballots. These totals remain undifferentiated.

  • Historical geometry is independently versioned

    The map uses a checksum-pinned, election-date geometry build while Electoral College allocations remain traced to the NARA fact tables.

  • County detail begins in 2000

    County-level popular-vote detail is available only for 2000 through 2024. This election has state-level Electoral College coverage.

Traceable facts

Sources and provenance

Data version
labs-elections:6dbf3e52c41a13254056a211
Import validation
15 passed · 10 documented warnings · 0 failures