The presidential race is always close; since 1824, the winner of the presidency has averaged only 55 percent of the popular vote.
Total popular votes cast in 1824, the first year recorded: 262,284
The number of popular votes cast reached 1 million in 1828; in 1888, it hit 10 million; it totaled 25 million in 1920; in 1952, it had topped 50 million. The U.S. population reached 100 million in 1920, but the popular vote didn’t hit 100 million until 1992. Then, in 1996, it slipped back below 100 million.
Number of times the loser of the presidential race has received more votes than the winner: 2, in 1824 and in 1876
Year the widest margin was recorded between the winner and loser of the presidency: 1860, when Abraham Lincoln won with 69 percent of the popular vote. This was only the second time the Republicans had ever run a candidate for president.
Notable third party runs:
In 1892, People’s Party candidate James Weaver receives more than a million votes, garnering 9 percent of the total popular vote.
In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt, running for the Progressive Party, and William H. Taft, running for the Republican Party, tied for runner-up with 26 percent of the popular vote each. Democrat Woodrow Wilson won with 48 percent of the popular vote.
In 1924, Progressive Party candidate Robert M. Lafollette took 17 percent of the popular vote.
In 1932, Socialist Party candidate Norman Thomas won 2 percent of the popular vote.
The 1948 election saw two third-party candidates, each of whom received 2.5 percent of the popular vote: State’s Rights Party candidate Strom Thurmond (yes, he’s a senator now) and Progressive Party candidate Henry A. Wallace.
In 1968, American Independent Party candidate George C. Wallace received 14 percent of the popular vote, leaving Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey in a statistical dead heat.
In 1992, Independent candidate H. Ross Perot received more than 19 million votes, or 19 percent of the popular vote, and some pundits believe that 19 percent gave Bill Clinton the presidency.
Then in 1996, Perot ran again on the Reform Party ticket, but won only 9 percent of the popular vote.
Source: www.nara.gov/fedreg/elctcoll/ecfront.html