The presidential election of 1796 was the first to expose potential flaws in the U.S. Electoral College system.

In 1796, Thomas Jefferson was a candidate for the presidency as part of a ticket, with Aaron Burr as his Vice Presidential running mate. Meanwhile, incumbent John Adams was joined by Thomas Pinckney on the Federalist Party ticket.

Under the system in place, electors had two votes, but both were for President. With no way to distinguish between their intended Presidential and Vice Presidential choices, Adams would be elected President while his opponent - Jefferson, would be chosen as Vice President. There were rumors that southern electors pledged to Jefferson were coerced to give their second vote to Pinckney in hope of electing him President instead of Adams. As a consequence many Adams electors refused to cast their second vote, giving Jefferson the Vice Presidency.This made it so that the President and Vice President were from two separate parties, and therefore disagreed on many issues.

The problems arising from this election, and from the election of 1800, were to lead to the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Election results

Presidential Candidate	Party	State	Popular Vote	Electoral Vote
John Adams	Federalist	Massachusetts	(unknown)	71
Thomas Jefferson	Republican	Virginia	(unknown)	68
Thomas Pinckney	Federalist	South Carolina	(unknown)	59
Aaron Burr	Republican	New York	(unknown)	30
Samuel Adams	Republican	Massachusetts	(unknown)	15
Oliver Ellsworth	Federalist	Connecticut	(unknown)	11
George Clinton	Republican	New York	(unknown)	7
John Jay	Federalist	New York	(unknown)	5
James Iredell	Federalist	North Carolina	(unknown)	3
George Washington	(none)	Virginia	(unknown)	2
John Henry	Republican	Maryland	(unknown)	2
Samuel Johnston	Federalist	North Carolina	(unknown)	2
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney	Federalist	South Carolina	(unknown)	1

For more information

See also: President of the United States, U.S. presidential election, 1796, History of the United States (1776-1865)