Why is Election Day always on a Tuesday? This is a question I am often asked when I address groups about our election day history. 

In 1845, Congress chose the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November because it was the most convenient day for 19th-century farmers. They traveled on horseback or with wagons, so a Tuesday gave them travel time without interfering with Sunday church services or Wednesday market days.

That’s the simple answer, but there is more complexity behind it. 

Allowing for the Electoral College Timing

When voters cast a ballot for president every four years, they are actually voting for a slate of electors who meet in each state to cast their votes for a particular candidate. Those votes are then sent to Congress where they are officially counted, and the incoming president is announced. (This constitutes the Electoral College.)

The first effort for some sort of schedule and system began in 1792. At that time, electors met on the first Wednesday in December. Federal law specified that each state could choose its own electors, so long as it was within a 34-day window before the date when the electors would meet and cast their ballots.

Why a 34-Day Window?

The founding fathers picked 34 days out of respect for the lifestyles of the citizenry. Many landowners owned farms, and so they wanted to be sure the harvest was in. They also needed to allow travel time for people to arrive in town to vote.

But it was chaotic. States held elections at all different times. Government officials worried that if one state voted earlier than the others, then word of their vote might affect how people in other states voted. (We have a similar issue today, but they used to think they could control it.)

For that reason, Congress passed the 1845 law specifying that elections should take place the “first Tuesday after the first Monday…” keeping the date within the 34 days prior to the December Electoral College meeting date.  (The election of 1848 was the first time this new schedule was applied.)

However, like everything else in this world, “things change.” In 1887 the date of the meeting of the Electoral College was moved to the second Monday in January. Despite this, the states have maintained the “first Tuesday after the first Monday.”

More Changes: Earlier Voting and Mail-In Voting

As election officials evaluated voter turnout and listened to consumer feedback, states began coming up with changes that were intended to increase voter participation. (The Constitution specifies that states are in charge of elections.)  Administrators noted that citizens are more likely to vote if they don’t have to take time off from work or stand in a long line to cast their ballots.

As a result, states have tried offering many options over the last 20 years. Some states switched to more easily available mail-in ballots; others have broadened the opportunities for in-person early voting. Voting by mail or a more spread out time in which to vote also relieves the strain on poll workers.

In 2000, only about 14 percent of voters cast their ballots before Tuesday; by 2022, that number hit50 percent.

As of 2026, 47 states (plus Washington, D.C.) offer some form of early in-person voting. Three states—Alabama, Mississippi, and New Hampshire—do not offer early voting for general voters though people with specific excuses can usually vote absentee.

In some areas, states are making mail-in voting easily available as a way to increase turnout.   In California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and Washington, every registered voter is automatically mailed a ballot before the election.

Federal Push for Voter ID and In-Person Voting

Though some communities worry about the safety of our voting system, studies show that statistically voter fraud is not really an issue. Studies have been conducted by major non-partisan groups including the Heritage Foundation (leans right) and the Brennan Center (leans left), and there is very little abuse of the system.

Despite the low statistics on fraud, some states are working on change. Florida has just passed a bill that requires voters to show IDs to register to vote. (This change occurs in 2027.)

Other states, including New Hampshire, Wyoming, and Louisiana, have passed laws requiring proof of citizenship to register.

Until recently, Utah offered universal mail-in voting, but they just amended that law. By 2029, voters may still vote by mail, but they will need to “opt-in” instead of receiving a ballot automatically.

Another troubling change has been put forward by Ohio. Their state legislature passed a law that strictly limits the time for returning mailed ballots. This means a foul-up by the postal system could cause voters ballots to not be registered in time. Election administrators hope more people will vote in person as a result.

And while the current federal government continues to push for more alterations to tighten up the voting system, changes cost money. Most states are currently taking a “wait and see” approach. What will happen with the court battles in states like Florida and Arizona? (In Arizona, they have been wrangling over proof-of-citizenship laws for 20 years.)

Because studies show that the system is sound, many states figure they might as well wait.

So as you can see, Americans may still honor the first Tuesday after the first Monday as Election Day, but they actually vote at a wide variety of times and places!

Congressman John Lewis, a veteran of the Civil Rights Movement’s most pivotal battles, served Georgia with unwavering dedication. His lifelong commitment to ‘good trouble’ was inspirational. His death in 2020 left many Americans yearning for his principled leadership and his relentless pursuit of equality.

Since he was a teenager, John Lewis (1940-2020) worked to create a more equal world for all Americans. During nonviolent civil protests, he was the victim of police beatings, and he was jailed more than 40 times fighting for civil rights.

In 1986, he was elected to Congress, representing the 5^th Congressional district of Georgia. He spent the rest of his life defending the crucial gains he helped achieve.

In 2016-2017, John Lewis, working with co-authors Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell, wrote a graphic novel, March, documenting his participation in the civil rights movement. (The term “graphic novel” describes nonfiction work presented in a comic book format.) In it, he left many messages for all of us today.

March, Three-Volume Trilogy

After reading all three volumes of the graphic novel in succession, I was struck by the enormity of the ongoing effort that is required of the civil rights workers. When we think of the lunch counter sit-ins, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Freedom Riders, or the March on Washington, we forget that the protests were not isolated, single events. These actions were ongoing in many parts of the country.

In reading John Lewis’s story–from his home on his family’s Alabama sharecropper farm to his eventual leadership roles in civil rights organizations– one is struck by the unrelenting pace and the constant push that was necessary in order to fight for equal rights.

The Story: How Lewis Became Active

John Lewis was a teenager when he first heard Martin Luther King, Jr. on a radio broadcast. He was so inspired that he wrote him a letter and asked for a meeting. King said yes. In that meeting, John Lewis found his purpose. Though he was a shy young man, he knew he had to get involved politically.

He attended college in Nashville, and so it was in Tennessee where he joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). This was a grassroots student organization that began in 1960 and contributed significantly to expanding voting rights and challenging segregation.

The Nashville SNCC group planned nonviolent sit-in protests at segregated lunch counters in and around Nashville.

Students were outraged at the fact that they could spend their money in Nashville department stores, but they couldn’t eat at the store lunch counters or use the dressing rooms or bathrooms in these places.

Lunch Counter Sit-Ins

To prepare for these sit-ins to be non-violent, the students practiced receiving the type of treatment they knew to expect. They practiced taunting and verbally abusing each other. Those receiving the abuse rehearsed not responding. They wanted to present calm under duress.

Once SNCC undertook the demonstrations at lunch counters around Nashville, the process was long and slow. The students scheduled visits at lunch counters throughout town. The protesters repeated this process again and again.

They endured a barrage of abuse: they were spat upon, screamed at, struck, and hauled away in handcuffs. In one harrowing incident, a restaurant owner abandoned the students at the counter, plunging them into darkness, locking the doors, and unleashing a cloud of insecticide. Trapped and choking, the students feared for their lives.

No matter what terrible things befell them, the activists kept returning to stand up for their rights.

Change Came Slowly

On May 10, 1960, the students achieved a victory.

After six months of steady, nonviolent protests, six downtown Nashville department store lunch counters finally agreed to serve food to black customers.

Success was welcome, but the enjoyment was fleeting. The next challenge was to integrate movie theaters. The students started again.

Protests Throughout the South

The protests in Tennessee tell a story about just one small part of the country. There were efforts being made to integrate all types of institutions in Southern states—Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama to name a few.

By 1961, John Lewis was leader of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. That year the group undertook the racial discrimination taking place in interstate bus travel. (See the story about Sarah Keys Evans.) In 1955, the Interstate Commerce Commission handed a victory to Sarah Keys Evans and her attorney Dovey Roundtree.

The decision from the ICC, based on Roundtree’s legal argument, was that bus lines could not draw color lines no matter what part of the country they traveled. Yet nothing changed. The Jim Crow laws were still carried out bus driver-by-bus driver.

In 1961, John Lewis and SNCC as well as other civil rights groups organized what was called the Freedom Ride—all to make the case that discrimination was illegal on interstate transportation. Freedom Riders were beaten and jailed for prolonged periods of time. Buses were burned, and some protesters were killed in their stand for justice. Eventually they brought about change.

Freedom Summer 1964

When the voting rights fight moved to Mississippi in what was known as Freedom Summer (1964), John Lewis writes in March that the civil rights workers suffered 1000 arrests, 80 beatings, 35 shootings, 35 church burnings, and 30 bombings.

The volunteers who returned home from the summer frequently described symptoms that were like PTSD—-called “battle fatigue” then.

Selma to Montgomery for Voting Rights

By the mid-1960s, John Lewis was nationally known, included in what was referred to as the Big Six of civil rights leaders of the time. He was among the organizers of what was to be an orderly march from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital, Montgomery, to campaign for voting rights. It was March of 1965; one of their protesters, a preacher, had been murdered the previous month so there was fear.

A peaceful march was planned, and the entire group knelt to pray before crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. Coretta and Martin Luther King Jr., were among the participants. The march began in peace but by the time the group reached the Edmund Pettus bridge just outside Selma, they were attacked by state troopers using billy clubs and tear gas.

The attacks on the marchers were so violent that it became known as “Bloody Sunday.” Lewis was among those seriously injured, suffering a fractured skull.

The news coverage of what the police turned into a violent and bloody incident received worldwide coverage.

Another Effort

Two days later, another March was scheduled. That one, too, was halted. When they stopped, Martin Luther King Jr. led them all in prayer. The world saw that America had not become a place with equal rights after all.

Six days later, President Lyndon Johnson addressed the public on television pledging his commitment to a new voting rights act: “There is no Negro problem. There is no Southern problem. There is no Northern problem. There is only an American problem,” Johnson said, “Their cause must be our cause too. Because it is not just Negros, but really it is all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And we shall overcome.”

That autumn, in 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Voting Rights Act.

Even today the defense of this right must continue. Our voting rights are still under attack. No one knew more about this than John Lewis.

Lewis in Politics

Lewis did not run for elective office until 1981 when he was joined to the Atlanta City Council. In 1986, he was elected to represent Georgia’s fifth district and served as a prominent member of Congress until his death in July of 2020.

In 2011, President Barack Obama awarded him the Medal of Freedom.

The Message from John Lewis and March

Today with unrest throughout the country, I highly recommend reading John Lewis’s March. The leaders of the civil rights movement have lessons for us about what it takes for people to stand up for their rights and bring about change.

As former President Barack Obama wrote when he heard that John Lewis died: “We all now have our marching orders—to keep believing in the possibility of remaking this country we love until it lives up to its full promise.”

Obama noted that in his final phone call with Lewis that John Lewis was proud of the young leaders today who are stepping forward to lead nonviolent protests and to run for political office and continue the long march to justice.

***

And if you want to be inspired by other Black leaders, read about World War II hero Dorie Miller, inventor Marie Van Brittan Brown, the Mongomery Bus Boycott, the women of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the Harlem Hellfighters, or the black paratroopers in World War II who trained themselves in order to be prepared to fight for their country. The list is long and illustrative of the many great Americans whose stories have not been told often enough.

Presidential candidates of today usually have non-stop schedules. Between fundraising parties and campaign appearances, they have a long list of people to see and things to do. Though Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris got a late start, she set a daunting plan for traveling the country so that people will have a better idea of who she is and what she believes.

Was it always like this? No, not at all. The practice of campaigning has changed greatly over 250 years.

Unseemly to Campaign

During the election era of George Washington and the founding fathers, any sort of travel was on horseback or by carriage, so it was difficult and slow. Fortunately, the custom was that candidates should not travel—that it was “unseemly” to ask for votes. 

To promote a particular candidate, their friends took on letter-writing campaigns. They wrote to acquaintances near and far to explain the benefits of voting for their preferred candidate.

Election Day

The only way to vote at that time was to cast your ballot in person. Many Americans had farms, so they took care of their chores early, so they could come in to town to vote and visit with neighbors.

Voting took place on the village green. The women always set up buffet tables with copious amounts of food for everyone. A town meeting to resolve local issues generally preceded the general vote. Throughout the day, there was plenty of alcohol, generally paid for by the candidates. At some point the election was held.

The Country Grows

As the country grew, voting became more complex because there were state and national votes to process. Despite the fact that candidates could no longer meet each citizen before voting took place, campaigning from town to town was still considered in bad taste–vote begging, some called it. (Today’s candidates would probably be thrilled if we all looked down on them for traveling!) 

Political Parties Become Important

As political parties grew, they took on campaign activities to make their candidates publicly known. The 1840s and 1850s were the beginning of these events. Like the voting on the village green, these events were fun for citizens who were generally isolated on their farms and worked long days.

Campaign rallies were held in large fields, and there might be several stump speakers addressing crowds in different parts of the field. (They were called stump speakers because they spoke from tree stumps.) There was always plenty of food and alcohol.

Parades sponsored by the political parties were also popular. Some stretched for miles with most people joining in rather than just watching.

Travel Begins

By 1860, throughout the country, there was great tension over slavery, and candidates began traveling.

Stephen Douglas was the first. He personally advocated that the slavery issue should be resolved locally—that it was a dying institution and there was no need for a federal solution. But when he won the Democratic nomination for president, the Democrats in the South refused to back Douglas. They split off to nominate John C. Calhoun, who defended both states’ rights and slavery.

Douglas was very concerned about the fate of the country and decided the only thing to do was make his case to the public—even if it meant traveling. Because campaign travel was not considered acceptable, Douglas decided that the best approach was to plan a visit to Clifton Springs, New York, to visit his mother.  He was simply going to make a few stops on the way.

Republicans Aghast

He announced his planned trip, and the Republicans were on to him. They issued a handbill making fun of Douglas. Douglas was short in stature, so they headlined the handbill:

“A Boy Lost! 

“A Boy Lost! Left Washington, D.C. sometime in July to go home to his mother. He has not yet reached his mother, who is very anxious about him. Douglas has been seen in Philadelphia, New York City, Hartford, and at a clambake in Rhode Island. …He is about five feet nothing in height and about the same in diameter the other way. He has a red face, short legs, and a large belly. Answers to the name of Little Giant, talks a great deal, very loud, always about himself…”

Travel Becomes Customary

When the Civil War ended and elections became somewhat more normal, candidates began to travel to campaign. Foremost among them was Democrat William Jennings Bryan. He was a powerful speaker and people loved coming out to hear what he had to say.

In 1896, the Republicans nominated Ohio governor William McKinley.  His campaign manager, Marcus Hanna, knew that going head-to-head against the charismatic Bryan on the campaign trail would be a lost cause. Hanna implemented something new.

The Front Porch Campaign

Marcus Hanna created what he called a “front porch” campaign. McKinley lived in Canton, Ohio, at the time. Hanna arranged for special trains paid for by the Republican Party. Then he offered free rides for all who wished to come in to meet the candidate. The trains ran from July to November, and it was quite a festive occasion.

          As the trains pulled into the Canton station, a mounted brigade and a band met the passengers. The newcomers were then escorted to McKinley’s home. When the music slowed, McKinley stepped out onto the front porch to give an address, thanking the people for coming and asking for their votes.  On one day alone it was estimated that McKinley spoke to some 30,000 people. 

          Visitors brought gifts of flowers, food, and flags, which was lovely. But they often wanted souvenirs from their visits. Some plucked flowers or blades of grass. Others broke off parts of the wooden fence—even bits of the front porch–and to take home. 

By the end of the campaign, the lawn and fence were gone and the porch was in a state of disrepair…. But of course, it worked… McKinley won.    

Local Candidates Worked Hard, Too

While the preceding stories are of campaigns for national office, we can’t forget how hard local candidates work. In my research, I read of a candidate for sheriff carrying along a box of cigars and a quart of liquor.

Another candidate kept a diary of what it took to get elected. In one case, he traveled 30 miles on horseback to visit a ranch where two voters lived.  Because the rancher couldn’t take time to stop and talk to him, the candidate and his traveling companion pitched in. They helped vaccinate calves (and “ruined a $5 pair of breeches dipping sheep” in the process) while presenting the issues to the rancher. 

At another ranch, the owner was very proud of his horse. The candidate recognized how much this horse meant to him, so he left and returned with a photographer. A handsome photo of the ranch owner and his mare resulted.  All three of the family members voted for that candidate for sheriff. 

Every Vote Counts

Every vote in West Texas counted! Just as the votes do today.

Please vote. Take your neighbors and friends along, too.

As the balloons come down at the end of the final political convention of 2024, it is quite fascinating to look at a convention of the past.

Many years ago when I wrote my book, Election Day: An American Holiday, An American History, I combed through clippings from a wide range of local newspapers around the country. 

Perhaps because I was born in Colorado, the stories about Denver being selected for the Democratic Convention in 1908 caught my eye. This material did not make it into the book, but the stories are wonderful and reveal so much about what makes this country great.

Here is some of the 1908 story:

Why Denver?

By the early twentieth century, Denver was still a very new city. (It was founded after 1858.) When gold was found, the area grew quickly, but they quickly saw that bust could follow boom. When more gold was found elsewhere, many miners moved on. Despite this, Denver still grew to become the commercial center of the Rocky Mountain region. 

From this experience, the city fathers recognized the need to demonstrate its commercial appeal. As they saw it, Denver had the potential to be the “Paris on the Platte.” One of the projects to help grow the community was construction of a new convention center. The auditorium seated 12,000 people, and they didn’t cut corners. A total of $550,000 was spent to put up an elegant building with excellent indoor amenities.

When an opportunity to bid on a political convention came up, the men realized this could provide a great showcase for the city.

The Mile High City would have been happy with either the Democrats or the Republicans, but the Democrats were a particularly good fit. The man who was expected to be their candidate was William Jennings Bryan. Bryan was a huge “free silver” advocate so that made him well-liked in the area since so many towns in the Rockies mined silver.

Selecting the City

For either national committee, the selection of the city always involves two elements. The first is whether the convention-goers will be well taken care of with nearby hotels and restaurants. The second consideration is financial—will the host city invest in the event? If a political convention is coming to town, it’s going to mean great things for local businesses. 

In the early 1900s, few Americans would have visited Denver, because it was so far west for most Americans. For this reason, the site visit was particularly important. The Democratic National Committee needed to come into the city to see that “wild Indians” did not roam the streets and that the men did not all wear buckskin.

Reporters, of course, had great fun with this type of information. One wrote: “…I don’t know a woman in Denver who carries more than one revolver when she comes downtown shopping.”

Money on the Table

After visiting the city and touring the almost-complete auditorium, the national committee and the city fathers needed to talk money. The Denver committee knew that a meeting in Colorado would mean more travel for almost all the attendees. For that reason, they offered the use of the new civic auditorium rent-free, and they added $100,000 for additional expenses. 

The other two cities being considered by the Democrats were Chicago and Louisville, Kentucky. Louisville pledged $30,000. Chicago offered only $25,000. (No one really wanted to go to Chicago where the convention would be held in the hastily-built, ramshackle facility known as the Wigwam.) These paltry offers against Denver’s substantial one, plus the new auditorium made the decision an easy one.   

One member of the DNC, a congressman from Alabama, raised the issue that accepting such a large sum of money was tantamount to permitting Denver to “buy” the convention. He suggested any unused funds should be returned to Denver.

“Wiser heads” prevailed, and the full contribution was accepted by the Democratic National Committee.

Heightened Security

For any political event in our country today, heightened security measures are necessary. This was true in Denver as well.  The Denver Police hired sixteen additional officers to help out at the DNC in Denver that year. While sixteen officers are nothing compared to what we would need today, one reader notes that though the candidates were not expected to attend the convention, the Denver police still needed to take security seriously. In in the prior 43 years before the convention in Colorado, there had been assassinations of Presidents Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley. McKinley had been murdered only seven years previously.

While sixteen extra officers doesn’t sound like much, it was not uncommon for men in that day to take security issues into their own hands. The Denver Post (July 7, 1908) reported that the Tammany delegation, traveling by rail from New York to Denver, was angered by a pickpocket who lifted a wallet containing $500 and train tickets from one of their men.

Once the theft was realized, an alert was sent out, and all passengers and crew on the train were searched. The wallet was recovered, and the owner received the return of his $500 and the train tickets as well as $8.35 in silver, a Waterbury watch, and the gold fillings in the thief’s teeth.

The train was passing through Ohio when the transgression occurred. The Tammany fellows held on to the crook until the train had reached a point in the wilderness about eighty miles from anywhere. As they crossed a river, they tossed him off the train. The Denver Post reporter concludes: “The next time that a pickpocket starts out to rob a delegation of prominent Democrats, he will skip the men from Tammany Hall.”

The Right Place?

Was the DNC happy with their choice? One reporter certainly seemed to think the right decision was made: With a heading of No Wilted Collars, The Rocky Mountain News reported this on July 5, 1908:

“Looking down on the crowd in the Brown [Hotel] lobby, I thought of the leaking Wigwam in Chicago, where people sweltered and suffered. I thought of Kansas City, where the hungry horde passed over the town like the locusts and everybody was dusty and sticky. St. Louis well, St. Louis should not be spoke of…”

“But this convention is different. Not a wilted collar, not a palm-leaf fan, nobody apologizing for his shirt sleeves and carrying his coat over his arm, the picture of moist misery. Nobody sitting in a corner, wishing he had remained at home next to the refrigerator and ice-water pitcher, nobody mopping his steaming countenance and saying, Is this hot enough for you?”

Snow and Other July Arrangements

Denver organizers went to a great effort to put on its best face for the attendees.

Denverites built a “Welcome” arch to greet the delegates as they emerged from Union Station. It was made of bronze-coated steel that was illuminated by hundreds of lights. The landmark stood at the foot of Seventeenth Street for 23 years until it was torn down in 1931.

Workmen had been busy all weekend to decorate Sixteenth and Seventeenth Streets with buntings and flags, and the stores in the surrounding area featured political themes in their display windows. As the delegates arrived, each group was met by a marching band that escorted them to their assigned hotel. Everywhere there were city residents sporting, “Ask Me” buttons.

They also wanted to give the convention-goers something very special to remember about Colorado. Those who know the state know that snow can generally be found in the Rockies throughout the summer. (Global warming is making this less common, however.)

The citizens of Denver arranged for great masses of snow to be brought in by rail and piled in ten-foot mounds near the new civic auditorium. The snow was under police guard. Natives were to leave it untouched, but out-of-state visitors could play in it to their hearts content. “Many wearing white suits and Panama hats, plunged their arms in the cool white pile, rolled snowballs, washed each other’s faces with it and rolled it into small marble-sized balls in order to suck the coolness.”

Many Things To Do

From the moment the delegates arrived, the city offered plenty to amuse them. Bands played, and stump speakers addressed whoever would listen. Gilpin County arranged for sightseeing trains to visit the mines around Central City and Black Hawk.

Denver also arranged for a flatbed rail car with a band of forty real “Indians.” “The red men gave war dances and all sorts of other dances, intermingled with war whoops that struck momentary terror to the hearts of Easterners.” (The Denver Post, July 8, 1908.)

The delegates themselves did not come empty-handed. Most arrived with promotional items from their home states. It was particularly noted that the California delegation gave away small packages of California prunes wrapped in the American flag.

Just Like Now

But 24 hours before the convention was to start, The Denver Post noted problems: “It is almost impossible to get a telephone connection within twenty minutes. The food supply ran out at about 9 o’clock this morning, and all this afternoon they have been diluting coffee and handling dried peaches to people who wanted cantaloupe or grapefruit.”

Denver Reporters Observe All

The arrival of the men from Tammany Hall was a much-anticipated event. From The Rocky Mountain News: “Five trains bulging with 600 Tammanyites shed their enthusiastic cargoes in the morning…”

Another newspaper, The Denver Republican, wrote: “With a rumbling purr that was distinctly heard out by City Park, the Tiger, the Tammany Tiger, whose switching tail has lashed the voters of so many historic elections into line, stuck his head out of the Union Depot yesterday morning, shot a rapid fire of penetrating glances to right and left, and finding the place to his liking, moved majestically up the street.”

The article went on to describe them as the men with the “molting bank rolls.”

Where is the Candidate?

Just as candidates did not campaign for themselves during the early days of our country, it was also customary that candidates not attend the nominating conventions.  The first president to attend a convention was Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1932. He and his advisors decided he needed to appear in order to put to rest rumors that he was not well enough to run for president.

During the Denver convention, William Jennings Bryan remained at Fairview, his farm near Lincoln, Nebraska. During the day he cut some alfalfa, and area farmers dropped by to visit with him.

William Jennings Bryan in Nebraska

The final night of the convention, Bryan sat with his family and one or two close friends in the kitchen of their farmhouse. They listened to the convention by telephone. Organizers rigged a megaphone to a telephone in the convention hall, and this was connected to a long-distance telephone line.

At about 3:40 a.m. that next morning, Bryan finally received the nomination. Through this enhanced telephone line, Bryan heard for himself the roaring of the delegates,

For the third time, the Democrats turned to the popular candidate from Nebraska. John W. Kern of Indiana was selected as his running mate.

Post-Convention Sightseeing

After the convention, The Denver Republican reported that 50 Tammany Tigers took the Union Pacific to Yellowstone “for the purpose of verifying the report that up there one can see things that spout more persistently than a bunch of Democratic spellbinders.”

Here’s an interesting story about Warren Harding’s dog and how he helped with the election.

As a Mississippi resident, Fannie Lou Hamer was not informed that Black people had the right to vote in the United States until she was almost 42 years old (1960). The family had no television set, and even if they had, the stations frequently put up a slide, “transmission trouble,” if the news had to do with African American rights.

It was the arrival of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in her community of Ruleville, Mississippi, that made the difference. They began holding meetings. Suddenly, Fannie Lou knew that Black people had to start voting. It was power.

For her, the right to vote—the right to peacefully urge for change—was everything. She devoted her life to turning out the Black vote. She was fired from her job on a plantation; imprisoned and beaten severely; chased and shot at; and threatened numerous times. She explained:

“I guess if I’d had any sense, I’d have been a little scared—but what was the point of being scared? The only thing they could do was kill me, and it kinda seemed like they’d been trying to do that a little bit at a time since I could remember.”

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Why Is She Not Better Known?

Fannie Lou Hamer’s name is not the household word that Martin Luther King Jr’s name is, but Eleanor Homes Norton, the current delegate to Congress from the District of Columbia, says Fannie Lou Hamer was of equal stature when it came to moving an audience. Norton described Hamer’s “extraordinary brilliance,” noting that Hamer had “the capacity to put together a mosaic of coherent thought about freedom and justice. Her speeches had themes. They had lessons. They had principles.”

Many say that her speech in Atlantic City before the credentials committee of the Democratic Party was a defining moment in the civil rights movement. Such was her power that when President Lyndon Baines Johnson saw that the credential committee was receiving live television coverage with her testimony, he pulled together an impromptu news conference at the White House to pull the live coverage to himself.  Johnson was not opposed to integrating the state delegations, but he needed the white Southern vote. He couldn’t risk taking a stand.

Fannie Lou Hamer came into the convention hall with a decided limp to her step. She was dressed in a borrowed dress and old shoes, but she left having helped Americans gain a new understanding about how the country needed to deliver justice for all.

What’s more, she was so compelling that NBC aired her speech in its entirety later that night.

Fannie Lou Hamer Background

Fannie Lou was born in 1917, the 20^th child of Lou Ella and James Lee Townsend. They were sharecroppers on land east of the Mississippi Delta.  From the age of 6 on, Fannie was in the fields picking cotton with her family. With her siblings, she attended a Black elementary school for a time, so she learned to read and write.

But school hours were dictated by the work schedule. If children were needed to help, schools closed.  

At some point during her childhood, she suffered polio. As a result, she always limped, favoring her left leg.

In the early 1940s, she married Perry Hamer (known as Pap) and moved with him to Ruleville in Sunflower County. They became sharecroppers on a plantation owned by a man named W.D. Marlow.  Because Fannie could read and write, she had the job of timekeeping for those working the plantation. The job was prestigious, and with her bad leg, it saved her from field work and more pain.

“Mississippi Appendectomy”

Fannie Lou and Pap were very eager to be parents. But month after month, she did not get pregnant. She suffered bad menstrual pain, and finally confided in Mrs. Marlow. The white woman recommended Fannie Lou go to a doctor at the North Sunflower Hospital. (Doctors in the area were all white.)

Fannie’s diagnosis must have been fibroids or endometriosis. She underwent surgery to correct the problem, and while her pains were better, she still didn’t get pregnant. Finally, one of the house servants told her that she had overheard Mrs. Marlow mention that the doctor who performed the surgery removed Fannie Lou’s uterus.

When she discovered that her uterus had been removed while she was under anesthesia, she was beyond despair.

Fannie Lou later coined the term “Mississippi Appendectomy.” It was not uncommon for white doctors to sterilize Black women without permission.

Her Life Changed

In August of 1962, the student organization Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) came to Ruleville to introduce to Black residents the fact that they had the right to vote.

SNCC was formed in 1960 with the encouragement of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The SCLC watched as students led the lunch counter sit-ins, and they encouraged the young people to take their work farther—into the realm of voting.

When the SNCC held their first meeting in Ruleville, Fannie Lou and the neighbors who attended were all somewhat surprised to hear they had voting rights. But as the group listened to the SNCC leaders, they were intrigued. If they could vote, there might be a sanctioned way to change their world.

The first plan for SNCC was to transport potential voters to the county seat of Indianola where they should be permitted to register to vote. This was a 25-mile trip, so SNCC rented an old school bus that was usually used to take cotton pickers to the fields. 

Trip to Indianola

On the appointed Saturday morning, the group departed. Everyone was excited and nervous. They had heard about literacy tests but they couldn’t imagine what that meant.  

When they arrived at the courthouse and got out of the bus, the group was told they could only enter the courthouse two at a time. They would then register and take the literacy test. Fannie Lou Hamer was among one of the better readers, but she quickly saw that the literacy test was designed for failure. Potential Black voters in Mississippi were asked to interpret a section of the state constitution. Clerks could easily deny their interpretation.

As they went back to board the bus, they saw that it was now surrounded by local police urging them on their way. They knew that it was unlikely that any of them  would qualify for the vote.

However, Fannie Lou Hamer and all the others saw another immediate threat. Because they provided their addresses to the county clerk, their employers would eventually learn they had tried to register to vote.

Someone at the courthouse phoned the Marlow household while Fannie Lou was in Indianola. Before she even returned, Walter Marlow came to the house to tell Pap that Fannie should withdraw her application.

The Return Trip

On the return trip, the bus was pulled over by the state patrol. The driver was told he was being ticketed for driving a bus that was the wrong color of yellow. (It was an old school bus.)

The patrolman took the driver back to their headquarters to book him. Everyone on the bus scrounged for any money they had to see if they could pay the fine and get the driver out of jail. 

But when they saw they couldn’t come up with enough money—nor did they have transportation to follow the state patrol—they knew they just had to wait. Fannie Lou kept people calm by singing.  She had a beautiful voice that was a pleasure to hear. Soon others on the bus were singing as well.

At the SNCC headquarters, the organizers noted that the bus was late returning to Ruleville. They soon discovered that the driver was under arrest. One of the leaders got in the car and drove to the state patrol headquarters. SNCC paid the fine and took the driver back to the bus so that everyone could get home.

Hamer Fired

Fannie Lou Hamer and Pap had been good tenant farmers on the Marlow property for 18 years. They had every right to feel that the Marlows would not get involved in Fannie’s effort to register to vote—but Fannie Lou was relatively certain her activity placed them in danger.

Though Mr. Marlow left Pap with the message that Fannie Lou needed to withdraw her registration, he returned to the Hamer household when he saw that Fannie arrived.  

Fannie Lou was told to go back to Indianola to withdraw the paperwork or to pack up and leave the plantation. By this time, she and Pap had adopted two daughters. The couple decided Pap should remain in the home with the girls so that he could finish bringing in the crops. Otherwise, the Hamers would not be paid.

Fannie would leave alone.

She told Marlow: “I didn’t go down there to register for you. I went to register for myself.”

Fannie Lou Hamer moved in with friends, but she was a target. A few days later, some men drove by and shot up the house where she was staying. With that, Hamer knew that she would have to move every few days to keep those she cared about safe.

Pap ultimately was forced off the Marlow plantation without the family belongings or the pay that was due the Hamers.

Citizenship Schools

In the early 1960s, civil rights activists were moving forward in many directions. Lunch counter sit-ins, pressure to integrate interstate busing, general resistance to Jim Crow laws whenever possible, and voter registration were all bubbling to the surface.  But none of it was easy.

Protests and resulting arrests kept the social ferment very much in the news.

A former Black teacher and activist named Septima Clark saw that education was needed. Black voters needed to understand what to expect if they attempted to vote, and what the steps forward might be. Her first workshops began at the Highlander School in Tennessee.

Clark’s program grew from there. Since each state came with their own literacy rules—some had quizzes, some wanted interpretation of the state constitution– Clark soon saw that she needed to tailor the workshops on a state-by-state basis.

Septima Clark also hoped these classes would motivate people to return to their communities to motivate more people to vote.

Ruleville SNCC Raises Funds for Trip

In 1963, the SNCC volunteers decided to travel to one of Septima Clark’s Citizenship schools. This trip could accomplish two things: The group could bring back helpful voter information to those in Mississippi. They could also put to the test a new law that had been passed: In 1961, the Interstate Commerce Commission placed a ban on segregated bus terminals, and interstate buses were no longer able to enforce the Jim Crow practice that stipulated Blacks had to ride in the back of the bus.

The Ruleville group attended a workshop in Greenville, South Carolina, in early June. Their trip back was about 600 miles crossing several state lines. As the group traveled home, they stopped as necessary.

On June 9, the bus was about an hour from Greenwood, Mississippi. They decided to stop at Staley’s, a bus terminal café in Winona, Mississippi, between Montgomery and Greenville. 

Cafe in Winona

The restaurant was busy. Only a few of the passengers associated with SNCC got off to use the bathroom and get food. Fannie Lou was tired and didn’t get off, but she was watchful. She was older than most of the volunteers, and she kept a parental eye on them.

Hamer noticed that throughout the most recent leg of the trip, the white bus driver was making phone calls from pay phones where they stopped. He had expressed anger that Black passengers were sitting wherever they wanted on the bus (see Sarah Keys Evans story) instead of riding in the back.   

When the activists did not emerge from the café in a normal amount of time, Hamer got off the bus. Winona police and state patrolmen were driving up, so it was clear there would be trouble. She knew that police often masked their name tags to prevent people from identifying them, so she started noting the squad car numbers. She soon saw that the car numbers, too, were covered.

At that point, police entered the café and began pulling out the Black travelers. They also grabbed Fannie Lou Hamer and threw her into the back of squad car. Six were arrested.

At the Station

The group was taken to the police headquarters and separated for interrogation. While she waited, Fannie Lou Hamer could hear cries and screams from somewhere in the building.

When officers came to fetch Fannie Lou, they put her in a cell with two Black men who were jailed for other reasons. Hamer was told to lie face down on the cot and the men were given a leather billy club (also called a blackjack) and ordered to take turns thrashing her.

Over the course of several hours, she was raped and beaten. Her injuries were such that it took more than a month for her to recover. Ultimately, she was left with permanent kidney damage, further damage to the leg weakened by polio, and she had a blood clot in her left eye.

None of the group was released until June 12—a long three days from the time they were picked up at the Staley Café.

But by mid-summer, she was back at work with those who were registering voters.

Mock Election in Greenwood

In the fall of 1963, civil rights activists in Greenwood decided they should organize a mock election for November. It was an off-year for elections so, the sample system would show new voters what to expect.

The election brought out several thousand voters. Fannie Lou Hamer was among the speakers in Greenwood that day: “If it [the ballot] wasn’t good how come, he [the white man]  trying to keep you from it and he still using it?

“Don’t be foolish, folks: they go in there [to the polls] by droves and droves, and they use guards and dogs to keep us out. Now if that’s good enough for them, I want some of it too.”

The Washington Post sent a reporter to cover the mock election. The story’s headline: “Negro Campaign Lights Up New Goals in Mississippi: A ‘Whisper of Freedom’ Growing into a Shout.”

Civil Rights Movement

 In the early 1960s, the civil rights movement was in full swing throughout the country. The Freedom Riders spent 1961 riding buses throughout the segregated South and pushing back against Jim Crow laws. The March on Washington occurred in August of 1963 with 250,000 people attending. They heard Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. His soaring eloquence was irresistible to television news broadcasts so his reach extended beyond his very large audience.

Despite all that was happening, the South remained segregated, especially when it came to the polls. Black people faced violence and intimidation when they attempted to exercise their constitutional right to vote.

Fannie Lou Hamer successfully registered to vote on January 10, 1963, but when she arrived at the polls for the next election, she was turned away. Election officials were now insisting that voters present poll receipts from the two previous years.

Since Hamer had not been eligible to vote, she had no prior receipts. The rule was an automatic way to deny her and many others the right to vote. (Fannie saved the money to “buy” the receipts so she could vote in the future.)

Mississippi Unmovable

Though SNCC and other organizations had been trying to get people registered, Mississippi blocked the voters in many ways.  Statistics in 1962 revealed that fewer than 7 percent of the state’s eligible Black voters were registered to vote.

Due to this historically low level of Black voters, several of the civil rights organizations—SNCC and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) as well as the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) decided that a clear effort needed to be placed on Mississippi.

The era became known as Freedom Summer. Activists ran workshops like the ones crafted by Septima Clark, sit-ins continued as necessary, and the ongoing effort to register voters continued.

Activists knew they needed to be prepared for anything. White college students from the northeast were interested in volunteering, but they were warned that violence was likely.

Some of the Black activists talked to Fannie Lou Hamer about permitting white college kids to come in and help. She pointed out that they were fighting for unity and equality. This was no time to discriminate.

Volunteers Arrive

On June 15, 1964, the first three hundred volunteers arrived in Mississippi. The state’s project director Robert “Bob” Moses pledged his staff and volunteers to attempt to find “nonviolent solutions” as issues arose. Few could have foreseen how dire the situation would become.

During the training sessions for the volunteers, the students were warned of the high probability of being arrested. They were told to always have enough money with them for bail.

In the first wave of volunteers, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman arrived from New York. They soon became friendly with a local Black volunteer, James Chaney.

After attending an evening meeting in Philadelphia, Mississippi, where a Black church had just been burned, Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney left Philadelphia. They never made it back to the Greenwood office.

As the news about the men’s disappearance filtered out, the national press descended on the area. The story reverberated throughout the country for six weeks until three beaten bodies were found.

Nationally, outrage grew. Why had it taken so long? What were the Mississippi police doing (protecting their own), and why hadn’t the federal government stepped in to help?

Perseverance

The staff and volunteers were spooked but determined. They continued on with their mission to register voters and foster a grassroots freedom movement that would continue after their departure.

Voter registration in Mississippi was not greatly impacted by the Freedom Summer. While 17,000 Black Mississippians attempted to register to vote that summer, only 1,200 were successful.

But things were happening. The Mississippi Project established more than 40 Freedom Schools serving a combined 3,000 students. The Freedom Summer also raised awareness for the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, about which Dr. King said: “If you value your party, if you value your nation, if you value democratic government, you have no alternative but to recognize, with full voice and vote, the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.”

Democratic Convention in Atlantic City

But at the August 1964 Democratic National Convention held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, MFDP delegates were told they would not be seated. Only the white delegation was to be permitted to vote the Mississippi votes, even though 20 percent of the state residents were Black.

Organizers, including Fannie Lou Hamer, opted to take their case to the credentials committee scheduled before the convention was to begin.

While President Johnson supported the convention platform that required integration of all state delegations, he was nervous. He needed the white votes from Mississippi, or he feared he wouldn’t win.

By this time, Fannie Lou Hamer had become a powerful and magnetic speaker. News crews switched to cover her speech live. When Johnson saw this, he called an impromptu news conference at the White House. As he knew it would, the live television cameras switched to cover him.

But Hamer was a compelling speaker to watch. Later that evening, NBC ran her speech in full.

Convention Decision

Ultimately, the credentials committee chose to seat the all-white delegation. This was a blow to the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, so they decided to show up anyway. They managed to get to the floor to the area where Mississippi delegates would sit, and they remained there. The convention organizers knew that dragging the Mississippians off the convention floor would not be a good look, so they tolerated both delegations on that first day.

The next day, all the seats in the Mississippi area had been unbolted and removed from the floor. All Mississippi delegates were left standing. Eventually, the convention security force removed members of the MFDP. They did not go quietly.

Other Issues

Fannie Lou Hamer had achieved a high level of prominence within the civil rights movement that grew into nationwide recognition. She knew the importance of using her platform to talk about rural poverty—a topic she knew personally—and food insecurity.

By 1969, she formed the Freedom Farm Cooperative …a community-based rural and economic development project designed to help supplement nutritional needs of the poor.  She also became a founding member of the National Women Political Caucus, an organization that is still strong today.

But by 1974, her health worsened. In 1976, she was diagnosed with cancer. She lived only a year longer.

Tributes

Since that time, there have been tributes and honors to Fannie Lou Hamer. A high school and a post office have been named for her. Both Jackson State University and the University of California at Berkeley established resource centers in her memory. In Jackson it was a Human and Civil Rights Interdisciplinary Education Center; at Berkeley, the Fannie Lou Hamer Black Resource Center opened in 2017.

In January of 2019, the third annual Women’s March, held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, was dedicated to Fannie Lou Hamer’s life and legacy.

But if you have read this story, you know that only one “honor” would be of value to Fannie Lou Hamer: That American citizens of all colors are eligible to register and vote. Regrettably, completion of Fannie’s mission still lies ahead of us.

***

To read the complete story of Fannie Lou Hamer, I recommend reading Walk With Me: A Biography of Fannie Lou Hamer, by Kate Clifford Larson, Oxford University Press, 2021.

Despite early voting and amazing strides in technology, election results can still take time before the final news is known. A look back at our history to see that hearing election news has always required patience. Here are some fun reminders.

National News Came by U.S. Mail in the 1830s

Telegraphs were not used in the 1830’s, so there was no fast way to hear news. Newspapers were filled with appeals for people to bring in any election news they received via personal letters:  “We ask this favor not merely on our own account, but as a favor to the public generally.  Every hour of the day there are persons in the Reading Room seeking intelligence.  All returns sent to us will be spread on the Bulletin Board.”  

By Saturday, November 12, the editors were impatient. They wrote: “THE MAILS—The incessant rains for the past few days have rendered the roads almost impassable.  Nothing was received from the East, yesterday, beyond Belleville.  The mails from Illinois and the different parts of this State likewise failed.” 

Gossip Welcome, Too

Election gossip from stagecoach travelers and from mail boat workers was also greatly appreciated.  This appeared in the anti-Whig Louisville Daily Journal on November 8, following the election of 1844 (the Whig candidate that year was Henry Clay; James K. Polk ran on the Democratic ticket):  “The clerk on the mail-boat informs us, that just as he was leaving Cincinnati, he saw the clerk of the Clipper, direct from Pittsburg [sic], who told him that the very latest news from Pennsylvania was not as bad as that previously received, yet still we have little or no hope for the State.”

News by Pony Express

The election of 1860 was the first and last time that the Pony Express was used to convey the news.  Lincoln’s victory was carried by riders across the plains from Fort Kearny, Nebraska, to Fort Churchill, Nevada, in six days—the fastest time ever made by the Pony Express.  The development and expansion of telegraph wires soon made overland relay obsolete.

The Telegraph Helped

Once the telegraph came into popular use in the latter part of the nineteenth century, news of the vote could be sent to newspaper offices around the country almost as quickly as the votes were counted.  However, vote counting was laboriously slow. Crowds would start gathering outside the newspaper offices as early as election night, they had to keep returning for updates because it sometimes took several days before the final count was known. 

In western frontier towns where there was no newspaper office, residents awaited the arrival of the newspaper that came in by post.   When it arrived, not everyone was literate so people would gather while someone read the news. 

Later on, when towns were more established and word came into the newspaper offices by telegraph, frontier towns would sponsor events so that people could vote and then stay in town to await the news. 

In Cheyenne, Wyoming in the early 1900’s, candidate-sponsored suppers followed by rallies were held on the eve of election day.  The next night citizens went to the opera house where they could see a play while they awaited the returns.  As the news came in, runners from the newspaper would bring the latest tallies to the opera house where they were read from the stage.

Waiting at the Newspaper Office

At the St. Louis Republic in 1916, they offered “bulletin service” on the street in front of the newspaper office. They used a specially fitted lantern to project the news onto a screen.  Initial wire announcements from New York gave victory to Republican Charles Evans Hughes—those bulletins reached St. Louis by 6:45 p.m. before Missouri polls had closed; it was several days before it became clear that in fact Woodrow Wilson had been re-elected. 

The crowds who came Tuesday night came back again Wednesday and Thursday, listening to the reports that were given via megaphone.  The editor of The Republic noted that at about 7 p.m. Thursday a competing newspaper published the Wilson victory in an Extra edition. Because the results weren’t complete, The Republic waited for final determination.  About 10 p.m. Thursday, a flash came from the AP that Wilson had carried California, gaining the votes he needed to win.  At The Republic a bulletin was put in the window and Old Glory was “ready to wave from one of the third story windows.”  After waiting so long, the crowd was more than ready to celebrate.    

Other Outlets for the News

The growth of populations and the increased interest in elections spawned additional sites for hearing the news.  In St. Louis in 1920 there were about 25 locations where people could go to spend the evening waiting for results. Those who still planned to wait at the newspaper office were promised movies, including a first-run release, Mutt and Jeff in The Politicians, a Harold Lloyd comedy, a review of current events, a Charlie Chaplin comedy and a “never-before-seen-by-the-public” motion picture made by “x-ray process, showing movement of kneecap…wrist, jaw, bone, elbow, etc.”  Those who chose to go to other public buildings would hear the returns announced periodically through a new “sound-multiplying machine,” the Magnavox telemegaphone.  In between announcements, the sound-multiplying machine was used to amplify phonograph records.

The Radio

On election night in 1924, Americans now had a new option.  They could go to their newspaper offices to await the news or they could go to local centers to hear radio broadcasts of the election results. 

By 1936 radio had one more effect on the election:  Candidates could reach out on their own to woo candidates.  The public had little chance of meeting candidates in person, so they were at the mercy of reporters’ opinions. (Radio was the Twitter of that day.)

Machine Voting Speeds Results (Sort Of)

In 1936, citizens in major cities were voting by machine, which tabulated the votes instantly.  Although 30,000 machines were in use that year, their results represented only one-seventh of the vote. All other voting was still done by paper ballot.  Election workers in schoolhouses, general stores, police stations, and firehouses worked for hours counting the rest of the votes. 

In rural Kentucky locked ballot boxes were still brought to the county seats by horseback and some counties had no telephone or telegraph, so newspapermen, eager to help get the votes counted,  volunteered to take the votes by automobile to a central location (Williamsport, West Virginia) where they could be counted and the report broadcast.

Competition in the Press

Press organizations were as competitive in the 1930’s as they are now, and each company pushed for getting the votes collected and calculated as quickly as possible.  Because of this, election results were announced twice with the “press tally” preceding the official tally by days if not weeks. 

In New York City, a single city news manager for the NYC news association had to arrange careful telephone choreography during a three-hour period when 45,000 precinct reports were expected. 

Hiring People Who Can Add Quickly

Radio broadcasters who wanted to get reports on the air as quickly as possible suddenly looked for employees with a newly-identified skill—the lightning quick ability to add numbers.  The quicker and more accurate the numbers, the more competitive the news organization.

Faster reporting not only helped get the news out but had the side benefit of keeping elections more honest.  Officials could no longer linger over the ballot boxes, an activity that sometimes led to tampering.  What’s more, the big news services eliminated the duplication that was inevitable when numerous uncoordinated newspapers, telephone and telegraph offices assembled the votes. 

In Times Square

Though by the 1940’s New Yorkers could have stayed home to hear the news on the radio, Times Square on election day held the allure it holds on New Year’s Eve today.  In the past, The New York Times had used a moving electric bulletin sign on Times Tower, and a system of beacons to keep the crowd abreast of the news. It was a great place to be.

But in 1944, wartime blackout restrictions had kept Times Square dark throughout the year.  When it was announced that the electric bulletins and beacons would be put in use for election night despite the war, people were thrilled. 

Police planned for more than 1,000 officers to help control the crowd, and stores boarded their windows to keep the glass from breaking if large crowds pushed up against them.  That night a crowd numbering between 250,000-500,000 gathered to hear the news.  The crowd was particularly notable for the absence of young males.  Only sailors on leave or soldiers on furlough provided a touch of masculine youth to the festivities. 

At midnight the bulletin board flashed a message announcing the Roosevelt victory, and according to news reports of the day there was a brief but full-throated roar that was echoed in the square as a steady beam darted northward from the Times tower to signal the President’s re-election.  As the crowd negotiated its way to the subway, the celebrating was kept to a minimum as people remembered the men and boys far from Times Square.

What Will Happen This Year?

In 2020, Americans can follow the news in a myriad of ways—online, on radio or TV, and even in the printed newspapers… But when will we know the actual results? It’s anyone’s guess—just as it has always been throughout history.

To read more about election day traditions, see Election Day Firsts.