The 1876 presidential election was heavily contested , and saw the highest turnout of voting age population in American history . Democratic Governor Samuel J. Tilden of New York won the Democratic nomination on the second ballot of the 1876 Democratic National Convention , defeating Indiana Governor Thomas A. Hendricks and a handful of other candidates . Republicans chose Ohio Governor Rutherford B. Hayes on the seventh ballot over Maine Senator James G. Blaine , Senator Oliver P. Morton of Indiana , Secretary of the Treasury Benjamin H. Bristow , and several other candidates . Tilden outpolled Hayes in the popular vote by a margin of three percent , and had 184 electoral votes to Hayes ' 165 , with 20 electoral votes uncounted . These 20 electoral votes were in dispute : in three states ( Florida , Louisiana , and South Carolina ) , each party reported its candidate had won the state , while in Oregon one elector was declared illegal ( as an " elected or appointed official " ) and replaced
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1876 Republican National Convention
1876 United States elections