How many electoral votes were needed to win in 1824?

A majority of the 261 electoral votes was required (131); no candidate reached it.

Why was the 1824 U.S. presidential election decided by the House of Representatives?

No candidate won an Electoral College majority in 1824, so under the U.S. Constitution the House of Representatives chose the president.

Era of Good FeelingsCycle 10 / 60Decided by House

1824

The House decides again.

Andrew Jackson led with 99 electoral votes and 41.4% of the popular vote (John Quincy Adams: 30.9%), but no candidate won a majority, and the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams (84 electoral votes).

Turnout was 26.9%. The cycle falls in the Era of Good Feelings of American electoral history.

Adams

84 EV

Jackson

99 EV

Other

78 EV

0131 to win261

The map · 1824

7 states for Adams · 11 for Jackson

Open the what-if calculator → — flip states and re-count. A toy, not history.

Narrative

The House decides again

Four Democratic-Republican candidates split the electoral vote, with Andrew Jackson winning both the popular vote and a plurality of electoral votes but falling short of a majority. The election was thrown to the House of Representatives, which chose John Quincy Adams in what Jackson's supporters called the 'Corrupt Bargain' — Speaker Henry Clay, who had come fourth, threw his support to Adams and was subsequently named Secretary of State. Jackson's fury over this outcome drove him to build the Democratic Party and win the presidency four years later.

Key issue

Sectional rivalries; tariff policy; internal improvements

Notable

Jackson won popular vote but lost in House; 'Corrupt Bargain' allegation shaped next election

This summary was drafted with AI tools and has not yet been checked sentence by sentence. The vote table and the National Archives note on this page come from named sources; where they differ from the summary, rely on them. Tell us about an error.

From the National Archives

Because no candidate for President was elected by the people, the election was decided by the House of Representatives. In that vote, John Quincy Adams was elected President with 13 votes. Andrew Jackson received 7 votes and William H. Crawford received 4 votes.

National Archives, Electoral College results for 1824, archives.gov, read October 3, 2026. Quoted as published.

States · 24 reporting

State results · 1824

Electoral votes by state. State popular votes for 1824 are not yet published here.

1824 presidential election results by state: electoral votes
State	Electoral votes	Popular vote
Alabama¹	5 EV	State popular vote not yet sourced.
Connecticut²	8 EV	State popular vote not yet sourced.
Delaware³	3 EV Crawford 2, John Quincy Adams 1	Electors were chosen by the legislature.
Georgia⁴	9 EV	Electors were chosen by the legislature.
Illinois⁵	3 EV Jackson 2, John Quincy Adams 1	State popular vote not yet sourced.
Indiana⁶	5 EV	State popular vote not yet sourced.
Kentucky⁷	14 EV	State popular vote not yet sourced.
Louisiana⁸	5 EV Jackson 3, John Quincy Adams 2	Electors were chosen by the legislature.
Maine⁹	9 EV	State popular vote not yet sourced.
Maryland¹⁰	11 EV Jackson 7, John Quincy Adams 3, Crawford 1	State popular vote not yet sourced.
Massachusetts¹¹	15 EV	State popular vote not yet sourced.
Mississippi¹²	3 EV	State popular vote not yet sourced.
Missouri¹³	3 EV	State popular vote not yet sourced.
New Hampshire¹⁴	8 EV	State popular vote not yet sourced.
New Jersey¹⁵	8 EV	State popular vote not yet sourced.
New York¹⁶	36 EV John Quincy Adams 26, Crawford 5, Clay 4, Jackson 1	Electors were chosen by the legislature.
North Carolina¹⁷	15 EV	State popular vote not yet sourced.
Ohio¹⁸	16 EV	State popular vote not yet sourced.
Pennsylvania¹⁹	28 EV	State popular vote not yet sourced.
Rhode Island²⁰	4 EV	State popular vote not yet sourced.
South Carolina²¹	11 EV	Electors were chosen by the legislature.
Tennessee²²	11 EV	State popular vote not yet sourced.
Vermont²³	7 EV	Electors were chosen by the legislature.
Virginia²⁴	24 EV	State popular vote not yet sourced.

Notes on the figures

Alabama State popular vote not yet sourced.
Connecticut State popular vote not yet sourced.
Delaware The state legislature chose the electors; there was no popular vote.
Georgia The state legislature chose the electors; there was no popular vote.
Illinois State popular vote not yet sourced.
Indiana State popular vote not yet sourced.
Kentucky State popular vote not yet sourced.
Louisiana The state legislature chose the electors; there was no popular vote.
Maine State popular vote not yet sourced.
Maryland State popular vote not yet sourced.
Massachusetts State popular vote not yet sourced.
Mississippi State popular vote not yet sourced.
Missouri State popular vote not yet sourced.
New Hampshire State popular vote not yet sourced.
New Jersey State popular vote not yet sourced.
New York The state legislature chose the electors; there was no popular vote.
North Carolina State popular vote not yet sourced.
Ohio State popular vote not yet sourced.
Pennsylvania State popular vote not yet sourced.
Rhode Island State popular vote not yet sourced.
South Carolina The state legislature chose the electors; there was no popular vote.
Tennessee State popular vote not yet sourced.
Vermont The state legislature chose the electors; there was no popular vote.
Virginia State popular vote not yet sourced.

SourceNo state popular-vote figures for 1824 are published here yet. How these figures were compiled

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