After the 1872 election, Congress received conflicting certificates of Louisiana's electoral vote.1 One set, certified by George Bovee as secretary of state, came from electors who said they had voted for Ulysses S. Grant for president and Henry Wilson for vice president.2 The other, a certificate from the governor, named a different group of electors, including T. C. Manning and A. S. Herron.3 Those electors cast eight blank ballots for president and eight votes for B. Gratz Brown for vice president.4
Members of Congress objected to both sets.5 Senator Lyman Trumbull of Illinois said Bovee was not the secretary of state and had admitted to a Senate committee that his certificate was untrue.6 Representative Lionel A. Sheldon of Louisiana said no lawful count of the votes had been made when the governor's certificate was signed, and that the governor made it without authentic knowledge of the result.7
The House resolved that none of the Louisiana returns should be counted.8 The Senate agreed, 33 to 16, and with both houses in accord, Louisiana's vote was left out of the count.9 The National Archives summary of the 1872 results describes the matter differently, saying that Arkansas and Louisiana were unable to certify their results and did not submit electoral votes to be counted.10
1 Horace Greeley died November 29, 1872, after the election, but before the meeting of the electors. By resolution of the House, the 3 electoral votes cast for him were not counted.
2 Following Greeley's death, electors in several states cast their votes variously for President or Vice President. Benjamin Gratz Brown, Greeley's running mate, received 18 electoral votes for President and 47 electoral votes for Vice President. Several others received electoral votes for either President or Vice President.
3 Vice President Henry Wilson died in Washington, D.C., on November 22, 1875.
National Archives, Electoral College results for 1872, archives.gov, read October 3, 2026. Quoted as published.
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Each numbered entry quotes the words that support that sentence, as they appear on the linked page.
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In 1873 the electoral vote of Louisiana was rejected, objections having been made because of conflicting certificates, and on other grounds.
govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3/html/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3-10.htm - Back to sentence 2
that the returning officers had returned to him as secretary of state, according to law, the following persons as duly elected electors
govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3/html/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3-10.htm a certificate signed by the electors, certifying that they had voted by ballot for Ulysses S. Grant for President of the United States and for Henry Wilson
govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3/html/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3-10.htm - Back to sentence 3
the certificate of the governor showed that the persons appointed electors were not those voting for Grant and Wilson.
govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3/html/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3-10.htm which certified that T. C. Manning, A. S. Herron, and others were duly and legally elected Presidential electors
govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3/html/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3-10.htm - Back to sentence 4
cast 8 blank ballots for President of the United States and 8 votes for B. Gratz Brown, of Missouri, for Vice-President.
govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3/html/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3-10.htm - Back to sentence 5
objections against the Grant and Wilson electors were presented as follows
govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3/html/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3-10.htm To the votes cast by Manning, Herron, and others, objections were offered as follows
govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3/html/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3-10.htm - Back to sentence 6
that Bovee was not secretary of state and not in possession of either the office or the seal, and that Bovee had admitted before the committee of the Senate that the certificate was untrue in fact.
govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3/html/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3-10.htm - Back to sentence 7
there had not been made any count, canvass, or return of the votes cast by the people of Louisiana for electors by any lawful authority
govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3/html/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3-10.htm the certificate was made by the governor without any authentic knowledge of the result of the election by the people of the State.
govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3/html/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3-10.htm - Back to sentence 8
Resolved, That, in the judgment of this House, none of the returns reported by the tellers as electoral votes of the State of Louisiana should be counted.
govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3/html/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3-10.htm - Back to sentence 9
this resolution, which was agreed to, yeas 33, nays 16: Resolved, That, all objections presented having been considered, no electoral vote purporting to be that of the State of Louisiana be counted.
govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3/html/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3-10.htm the two Houses concurring in so ordering, the vote of Louisiana was not counted.
govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3/html/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3-10.htm - Back to sentence 10
Arkansas and Louisiana were unable to certify their election results and did not submit any electoral votes to be counted.
archives.gov/electoral-college/1872
Sources checked on October 3, 2026
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