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"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource."
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Wikipedia Strips Monroe of Three Electoral Votes
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Race
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| Contributor | Chronicler |
| Last Edited | Chronicler Aug 10, 2006 06:20pm |
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[Older]
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| Category | Idiocy |
| News Date | Thursday, August 10, 2006 11:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | [The following is not the article but a commentary]
Today, 8/10/2006, Wikipedia changed history. President James Monroe's landslide 231-1 victory in the presidential election of 1820 has been thinned by three electoral votes. Wikipedia has decided that Monroe only won by a margin of 228-1.
Never mind that the vote has been reported as 231-1 for 186 years. Never mind that VP Daniel D. Tompkins declared the vote before a joint session of Congress on 2/14/1821 to have been 231-1.
The issue at hand is that Congress counted the three electoral votes of Missouri, which had not been admitted to the Union by the time the Presidential Electors met. As it did in several other instances, Congress counted Missouri since its vote did not change the outcome. Other similar races include Indiana in 1816 and Michigan in 1836. Wikipedia has decided that Congress counted the vote in error.
A movement is already underfoot to have Wikipedia change the result of other presidential elections. Minor changes would be to record the electoral vote of Arkansas in 1864 and 1872, Louisiana in 1864 and 1872, and Tennessee in 1864 (all Republican victories). Other options would include declaring Herbert Hoover the winner of the election of 1932 and / or appointing new cabinet members to replace unpopular choices such as James Watt and Ramsey Clark. |
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