Important Dates for Election Season 2013

Don’t forget the last day to register before the May 21st Primary Election is April 22nd.

Click here for  2013 Important Dates.

Is your one vote really important?  Here are a few examples from history as to why one vote is so important:

1. In 1645, one vote gave Oliver Cromwell control of England.
2. In 1649, one vote literally cost King Charles I of England his head.  The vote to behead him was 67 against and 68 for — the ax fell thanks to one vote.
3. In 1714, one vote placed King George I on the throne of England and restored the monarchy.
4. In 1776, one vote gave America the English language instead of German (at least according to folk lore.)
5. In 1800, the electoral college met in the respective states to cast their two votes for President.  At that time, the U.S. Constitution provided the candidate receiving the most electoral votes would become President and the candidate receiving the second highest number of votes would become Vice President.  When the results of the electoral college votes were opened by both houses of Congress, there was a tie vote for President between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr.  That threw the election of President into the House of Representatives where Thomas Jefferson was elected our third president by a one vote margin.
6. In 1824, none of the four Presidential candidates received an electoral majority.  The election was again thrown into the House of Representatives, where John Quincy Adams defeated front runner Andrew Jackson by one vote to become the nation’s 6th president.  Andrew Jackson received the majority of the nation’s popular vote.
7. In 1844 in the backwoods area of Switzerland County, Indiana on election day, a farmer named Freeman Clark lay seriously ill in bed.  He begged his sons to carry him to the county seat so he could vote for David Kelso to become a state senator.  David Kelso had defended old Freeman Clark on a murder charge and obtained his acquittal.  The old farmer Freeman Clark got to vote for Kelso but Clark died on his way back home.  Kelso won the election by one vote.  Both Freeman Clark and David Kelso were long-time Andrew Jackson supporters.
8. In 1844 when the new Indiana senate convened, Democrats had a majority of one — counting David Kelso.  At that time, state senates had the task of electing the states’ United States Senator.  The Indiana Senate Democrats held a caucus where it developed a majority of the party delegation favored a man who would vote against the annexation of Texas if elected to the U.S. Senate.  David Kelso refused to vote for the Democratic Party choice and a deadlock resulted between the Democratic and Whig candidates.  This continued for days.  Finally, Kelso made his move.  He proposed a new candidate:  Edward A. Hannigan.  In his party caucus, Kelso notified his Democratic associates he would bolt and vote with the Whigs — thus electing a Whig to the Senate — unless the Democrats supported Hannigan.  The Democrats felt constrained to accept Hannigan who was then elected as Indiana’s U.S. Senator by one vote — that of David Kelso.
9. In 1845, Texas was admitted to the union as a state by one vote — that of Edward A. Hannigan from Indiana.  The 1844 and 1845 excerpts on the series of single votes leading to Texas statehood are from the book, Magnificent Destiny.
10. In 1846, a one vote margin in the U.S. Senate approved President Polk’s request for a Declaration of War against Mexico.
11. In 1850, California was admitted to the union by a margin of one vote.
12. In 1859, Oregon was admitted to the union by a margin of one vote.
13. The Alaska Purchase of 1867 was ratified by just one vote — paving the way for the eventual annexation of America’s largest state in 1958.
14. In 1868, one vote in the U.S. Senate saved President Andrew Johnson from impeachment.
15. In 1875, a one vote margin changed France from a monarchy to a republic.