Thomas Jefferson won. This February 17, 1801 Richmond, Va.,
broadside relays the news from Washington that Jefferson has
been elected. The election of 1800 was an extremely close one in
which a change in one state would have altered the outcome. The
1800 electoral vote was one of the most historic. In the
previous elections, political leaders took measures that insured
that the presidential and vice presidential candidates did not
receive the same number of votes. In 1800, however, Jefferson
won the presidential election with 73 votes to Adams’s 65, but
the Republican vice presidential candidate Aaron Burr also
received 73 votes, making the vote for the presidency a tie. In
case of a tie, the Constitution directed that the election be
decided by the House of Representatives. In the House election
system, each state got one vote, determined by the majority of
its delegation. In the case of a tie in the delegation, the
state cast a blank ballot. On February 6, 1801, the House of
Representatives met to vote for