List of United States presidential elections in which the winner lost the popular vote

There have been five United States presidential elections in which the successful presidential candidate did not receive a plurality of the popular vote, including the 1824 election, which was the first U.S. presidential election where the popular vote was recorded.^[1] In these cases, the successful candidate secured less of the national popular vote than another candidate who received more votes, either a majority, more than half the vote, or a plurality of the vote.^[2][3]

In the U.S. presidential election system, instead of the nationwide popular vote determining the outcome of the election, the president of the United States is determined by votes cast by electors of the Electoral College. Alternatively, if no candidate receives an absolute majority of electoral votes, the election is determined by the House of Representatives. These procedures are governed by the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The U.S. Constitution does not require states to hold a popular vote,^[4] however, since 1880, electors in every state have been chosen based on a popular election held on Election Day.^[5]

When American voters cast ballots in a general presidential election, they are choosing electors. In 48 of the 50 states, state laws mandate the winner of the plurality of its statewide popular vote shall receive all of that state's electors;^[6] in Maine and Nebraska, two electors are assigned in this manner, while the remaining electors are allocated based on the plurality of votes in each of their congressional districts.^[7] The federal district, Washington, D.C., allocates its 3 electoral votes to the winner of its single district election. States generally require electors to pledge to vote for that state's winning ticket; to avoid faithless electors, most states have adopted various laws to enforce the electors’ pledge.^[8] The "national popular vote" is the sum of all the votes cast in the general election, nationwide. The presidential elections of 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016 produced an Electoral College winner who did not receive the most votes in the general election.^[9][10][11] Additionally, in 14 other presidential elections (1844, 1848, 1856, 1860, 1880, 1884, 1892, 1912, 1916, 1948, 1960, 1968, 1992, and 1996), the winner received a plurality but not a majority of the total popular votes cast. In only one election (1876) did a candidate win a majority (not just a plurality) of the popular vote but lose the electoral vote.

Of the five winners who lost the popular vote, three (Adams, Harrison, and Trump) ran for reelection four years later and lost the popular vote again and the election as well, one (Bush) ran and won the election as well as the popular vote, and one (Hayes) did not run for reelection. As of the 2020 election, no incumbent president has won re-election without winning the popular vote, and no president has won two terms in office without winning the popular vote at least once.

In 1824, there were six states in which electors were legislatively appointed rather than popularly elected, meaning the 'national' popular vote in that election does not include all states, so its significance is uncertain. When no candidate received a majority of electoral votes in 1824, the House of Representatives decided the election. These circumstances distinguish the 1824 election from the latter four elections, which were all held after all states had instituted the popular selection of electors, and in which a single candidate won an outright majority of electoral votes, thus becoming president without a contingent election in the House of Representatives.^[12] The true national popular vote total was also uncertain in the 1960 election, and the plurality winner depends on how votes for Alabama electors are allocated.^[13]

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