George Wallace, first elected governor of Alabama in 1962, ran for president in 1968 as the American Independent Party candidate, with Curtis LeMay as his running mate.1 In Alabama, however, his electors were the Alabama Democratic Party's nominees.2 A campaign card now in the Wallace family papers at the Alabama Department of Archives and History told voters to vote the column under the rooster symbol for the official Wallace-LeMay electors.3
The National Democratic Party of Alabama had been formed in 1968 to give Black Alabamians an alternative to the state's White-controlled Democratic Party.4 Its delegates challenged the regular Alabama delegation at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, but the national committee seated the regular delegation.5 The party sued Alabama officials who had refused to put some of its candidates on the 1968 general election ballot.6 Arguing that case before the U.S. Supreme Court in October 1968, the party's lawyer, Charles Morgan Jr., said a vote in one column of the ballot went to the Humphrey-Muskie ticket, the National Democratic column carried electors pledged to Humphrey and Muskie, and a straight Democratic vote went to Wallace.7
Wallace carried Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi and received 46 electoral votes, which was short of what he needed to disrupt Richard Nixon's victory.8
American Independent Party candidate Wallace received 9,906,473 popular votes for President.
National Archives, Electoral College results for 1968, archives.gov, read October 3, 2026. Quoted as published.
Sources for each sentence
Each numbered entry quotes the words that support that sentence, as they appear on the linked page.
- Back to sentence 1
He was elected governor for an unprecedented four terms in 1962, 1970, 1974, and 1982
encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/george-c-wallace American Independent Party candidate Wallace received 9,906,473 popular votes for President.
archives.gov/electoral-college/1968 His vice-presidential choice, Gen. Curtis LeMay, informed reporters he would use nuclear weapons in Vietnam to win the war.
encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/george-c-wallace - Back to sentence 2
Card listing the Alabama Democratic elector nominees for the 1968 presidential campaign.
digital.archives.alabama.gov/iiif/info/voices/5362/manifest.json - Back to sentence 3
Vote The Column Under The Rooster Symbol For The Official Wallace LeMay Electors.
digital.archives.alabama.gov/iiif/info/voices/5362/manifest.json Alabama Department of Archives and History, 624 Washington Avenue, Montgomery, Alabama 36130
digital.archives.alabama.gov/iiif/info/voices/5362/manifest.json - Back to sentence 4
The National Democratic Party of Alabama (NDPA) was formed in 1968 to provide Black Alabamians with an alternative to the state's White-controlled Democratic Party
encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/national-democratic-party-of-alabama-ndpa - Back to sentence 5
Ultimately, however, the national committee rejected the NDPA's challenge and chose to seat the ADP delegation.
encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/national-democratic-party-of-alabama-ndpa - Back to sentence 6
This suit is a class action brought by the National Democratic Party of Alabama (NDPA) and some of its officers and candidates in the 1968 general election against Alabama state officials
law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/394/358 - Back to sentence 7
By voting on column 1 a voter casts his ballot for the Humphrey-Muskie ticket for president.
supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/1968/68-647_10-18-1968.pdf Party of Alabama, for appellants here, he votes a straight
supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/1968/68-647_10-18-1968.pdf party ticket for electors pledged to Humphrey-Muskie unless
supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/1968/68-647_10-18-1968.pdf his ballot for George Cory Wallace for President.
supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/1968/68-647_10-18-1968.pdf ORAL ARGUMENT OF CHARLES MORGAN, JR., ESQ.
supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/1968/68-647_10-18-1968.pdf - Back to sentence 8
Wallace won in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi, receiving 46 electoral votes—short of what he needed to disrupt Nixon's victory.
encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/george-c-wallace
Sources checked on October 3, 2026
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