elections - events

463 BC–461 BC	Greece	The democratic statesman Ephialtes, with the support of the statesman Pericles, introduces a package of radical democratic reforms in the Greek city-state of Athens. They reduce the powers of the Council of the Areopagus, transferring them to ‘democratic’ popular institutions – the Council of Five Hundred, the Assembly, and the popular law courts. The office of judge becomes paid (so that it is no longer the exclusive preserve of the wealthy) and is recruited by lot from a list open to any citizen.
9 August 1081	Holy Roman Empire	King Henry IV's enemies in Germany elect Hermann of Salm as king in succession to Rudolf of Swabia.
22 July 1099	Kingdom of Jerusalem	Godfrey of Bouillon is elected as ‘Defender of the Holy Sepulchre’, refusing the title king, and so founds the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem.
10 May 1292	Holy Roman Empire, Germany	Adolf, Count of Nassau, is elected Holy Roman Emperor and becomes king of Germany.
27 July 1298	Germany, Holy Roman Empire	Albert of Habsburg is elected Holy Roman Emperor.
27 November 1308	Holy Roman Empire	Henry IV, Count of Luxembourg, is elected Holy Roman Emperor.
18 July 1658	Holy Roman Empire	Leopold I, second son of Ferdinand III, is elected Holy Roman Emperor, defeating the candidature of King Louis XIV of France and ending the short interregnum.
29 May 1724–21 February 1730	Italy	Pietro Francesco Vincenzo Maria Orsini, eldest son of the Duke of Gravina, is elected Pope Benedict XIII, after the death on 7 March of Pope Innocent XIII.
5 December 1792	USA	George Washington is re-elected president of the USA. John Adams, the runner-up, returns to the office of vice-president.
7 December 1796	USA	John Adams defeats Thomas Jefferson in the US presidential election by three electoral votes to become the second president of the USA. Jefferson is elected vice-president.
November 1800	USA	In the US presidential election, the Republicans Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr each receive 73 electoral votes. Federalists John Adams and Charles Pinckney secure 65 and 64 votes respectively. As stipulated by the US Constitution, the election goes to the House of Representatives, where Jefferson is elected president.
December 1804	USA	Americans re-elect Thomas Jefferson as US president and elect former New York governor George Clinton as vice-president.
December 1808	USA	Americans elect James Madison of the Democratic-Republican Party as US president and George Clinton as vice-president.
11 November 1812	USA	James Madison defeats De Witt Clinton in the US presidential election with 128 electoral votes against Clinton's 89 votes.
December 1820	USA	James Monroe and Daniel D Tompkins are re-elected as US president and vice-president respectively.
11 November 1828	USA	In the US presidential elections, Andrew Jackson (with 178 electoral votes) defeats John Quincy Adams (with 83 votes).
11 November 1832	USA	In the US presidential elections, President Andrew Jackson, who was nominated as candidate at the first Democratic Convention, defeats Henry Clay with 219 electoral votes compared to Clay's 49 votes.Martin Van Buren is elected vice-president.
7 December 1836	USA	Americans elect Martin Van Buren president. No vice-presidential candidate wins a majority, compelling the Senate to select the vice president for the first time in US history. The Senate chooses Kentucky politician Richard M Johnson.
2 December 1840	USA	Americans elect William Henry Harrison president and John Tyler vice president.
4 December 1844	USA	Americans elect Democrats James K Polk president and George M Dallas president and vice-president, respectively.
7 November 1848	USA	MexicanAmerican War hero Zachary Taylor is elected as US president and Millard Fillmore as vice-president.
10 July 1850	USA	Following the death of US president Zachary Taylor of cholera the previous day, he is succeeded by Vice-President Millard Fillmore, who is sworn as 13th president of the USA.
11 November 1852	USA	In the US presidential elections the Democrat candidate, Franklin Pierce, defeats the Whig candidate, Winfield Scott, by 254 electoral votes to 42.
March 1855	USA	Violence and fraud mar Kansas' territorial election, as pro-slavery partisans from Missouri cross into Kansas to swell the ranks of pro-slavery legislators. Despite evidence of fraud, the Pierce administration endorses the election results.
11 November 1856	USA	James Buchanan, a Democrat, wins the US presidential election with 174 electoral votes, defeating John C Frémont (Republican, 114 votes) and Millard Fillmore (Whig, 8 votes).
6 November 1860	USA	In the US presidential election, Abraham Lincoln (Republican), opposing further extension of slavery, secures a majority of popular votes, but only 180 out of 303 electoral votes; John C Breckinridge (Southern Democrat) has 72 votes, John Bell (Constitutional Union), 39, and Stephen A Douglas (Northern Democrat), 12.
8 November 1864	USA	Abraham Lincoln is re-elected as US president, and Andrew Johnson as vice-president.
11 November 1868	USA	In the US presidential election, General Ulysses S Grant (Republican) wins 214 electoral votes over Horatio Seymour (Democrat), with 80 votes.
3 December 1868	UK	The English statesman William Ewart Gladstone forms a Liberal ministry in Britain after victory over the Conservatives in the general election.
31 August 1871	France	The French Liberal statesman Adolphe Thiers is elected the first president of the Third Republic in France.
5 November 1872	USA	In the US presidential election, Ulysses S Grant (Republican) is re-elected with 286 electoral votes over Horace Greeley (Liberal Democrat) with 62 votes.
7 November 1876	USA	In the US presidential election, Samuel Tilden (Democrat) secures 184 out of the 185 electoral votes required, against Rutherford B Hayes (Republican) with 165, but 20 votes are in dispute (settled by an electoral commission on 29 January 1877).
2 March 1877	USA	On the basis of its committee's recommendation, the US Congress rewards all 20 disputed electoral votes in the previous December's presidential election to Republican Rutherford B Hayes. The decision furnishes Hayes with a 185–184 majority over Democrat Samuel J Tilden.
30 January 1879	France	Following Republican gains in the senatorial elections, President Marie-Edme-Patrice-Maurice MacMahon, duc de Magenta, resigns and François-Paul-Jules Grévy, a moderate Republican, is elected president of France.
6 June 1880	Belgium	The Clericals defeat their ideological rivals, the Liberals, in the Belgian elections and begin a long era of power which extends until 1914.
2 November 1880	USA	The Republican candidate James A Garfield is elected as president of the USA. In the Congressional elections, Republicans and Democrats share the seats in the Senate (37–37), but the Republicans regain control of the House (147–135).
11 November 1884	USA	Grover Cleveland, Democrat, wins 219 electoral votes in the US presidential election while James G Blaine, Republican, wins only 182 after being deserted by the Mugwumps, the reformist Republicans. In the Congressional elections, the Republicans attain a majority in the Senate (43–34), while the Democrats retain control of the House (183–140).
19 December 1885	France	The conservative Republican François-Paul-Jules Grévy is re-elected president of France.
26 July 1886	UK	Robert Cecil, Lord Salisbury, forms a Conservative government following their electoral victory.
15 April 1888	France	Following election to the French chamber, General Georges Boulanger begins a campaign for the revision of the constitution with the intention of making himself dictator. Charles Floquet forms a cabinet which stands until February 1889.
11 November 1888	USA	In the US presidential election, fought on tariff issues, the Republican Benjamin Harrison wins 233 electoral votes, and the Democrat Grover Cleveland 168. Cleveland's loss is attributed to the treachery of Tammany Hall, the Democratic organization in New York City.
1 April 1889	France	General Georges Boulanger, fearing trial for treason, flees from France. In the subsequent elections the Republicans triumph.
8 November 1892	USA	The Democrat Grover Cleveland wins the US presidential election with 277 electoral votes, on a platform opposing the McKinley Tariff and the Force Bill, while the Republican Benjamin Harrison wins 145 votes and the Populist James B Weaver 22.
3 November 1896	USA	Republican candidate William McKinley is elected as president of the USA. In the Congressional elections, the Republicans retain majorities in the House (204–113) and Senate (47–34).
18 February 1899	France	Emile Loubet is elected president of France following the death of Félix Faure.
16 October 1900	UK	In the ‘khaki’ election in Great Britain, the Conservatives, successful in the Second Anglo-Boer War, remain in power with a majority of 134. The Conservatives and Unionists take 334 seats, the Liberal Unionists 68, the Liberals 184, the Irish Nationalists 82, and Labour 2. Prime Minister Lord Salisbury reconstructs his government, appointing Lord Lansdowne as foreign secretary.
6 November 1900	USA	In the US presidential elections, the Republican candidate William McKinley is re-elected as president of the USA. In the Congressional elections, the Republicans retain majorities in the House (197–151) and Senate (55–31).
8 November 1904	USA	In the US presidential election, President Theodore Roosevelt (Republican) defeats Alton B Parker (Democrat) with 336 electoral votes to Parker's 140. In the popular vote Roosevelt polls 7,623,486 votes and Parker 5,077,911. In the Congressional elections, the Republicans maintain majorities in the House (250–136) and Senate (57–33).
16 November 1905	Russian Empire	The reformer Count Sergei Witte is appointed prime minister of Russia.
18 November 1905	Denmark	Prince Charles of Denmark is elected King Haakon VII of Norway following Norway's independence from Sweden.
17 January 1906	France	The radical Clément Fallières, the candidate of the Left, is elected president of France.
3 November 1908	USA	The Republican William Howard Taft wins the US presidential election with 321 electoral votes, defeating the Democrat William Jennings Bryan, who polls 162 votes. In the popular vote, Taft polls 7,678,908 votes and Bryan 6,409,104.
15 September 1910	South Africa	The South African Party wins the first South African elections and Louis Botha becomes prime minister.
5 November 1912	USA	The Democrat Woodrow Wilson wins the US presidential election with 435 electoral votes, while the Progressive candidate, Theodore Roosevelt, wins 88 votes, and the residing Republican president, William Howard Taft, wins 8. In the popular vote Wilson receives 6,293,454 votes, Roosevelt 4,119,538, and Taft 3,484,980. Democrats attain majorities in both the House (2911–127) and Senate (51–44).
16 June 1922	Ireland, UK	Elections in the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland) give a majority to the Pro-Treaty (Anglo-Irish Treaty) candidates (58, against 35 anti-Treaty Republicans); anti-Treaty Republicans continue to oppose the new government, with the Irish Republican Army (IRA) taking large areas under its control.
4 November 1924	USA	The Republican candidate Calvin Coolidge wins the US presidential election with 382 electoral votes over John W Davis, Democrat, with 136 votes, and Robert M LaFollette, Progressive, with 13; the popular vote is Coolidge 15,725,016, Davis 8,386,503, and LaFollette, 4,822,856. Republicans maintain majorities in the House (247–183) and Senate (56–39).
7 October 1928	USA	The Republican candidate Herbert Hoover wins the US presidential election with 444 electoral votes against Alfred E Smith, Democrat, with 87; the popular vote is Hoover, 21,391,381; Smith, 15,016,443; and Norman Thomas (Socialist), 267,835. In US Congressional elections, Republicans retain majorities in the House (267–167) and Senate (56–39).
30 May 1929	United Kingdom	In the British general election, the first held under universal adult suffrage, Labour wins 287 seats, the Conservatives 260, the Liberals 59, and others 9.
16 December 1931	Spain	Niceto Alcalá Zamora, leader of the Liberal Republican Right, is elected president of Spain, and the left-wing Manuel Azaña is appointed prime minister.
13 March 1932	Germany	In the German presidential election, the conservative former field marshal Paul von Hindenburg receives 18.6 million votes (49.6%) against the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's 11.3 million (30.1%), falling just short of the necessary absolute majority.
10 April 1932	Germany	Paul von Hindenburg is re-elected German president on the second ballot.
31 July 1932	Germany	The Nazis win 230 seats in the election to the German Reichstag (lower legislative house). The Social Democrats gain 133, the Centre 75, the communists 89, the National People's Party 37, and others 44. The result is a stalemate, since neither Nazis nor Social Democrats will enter a coalition.
6 November 1932	Germany	Further elections to the German Reichstag (parliament), after the inconclusive elections of 31 July, produce another deadlock, with some communist gains from Nazis.
8 November 1932	USA	Franklin D Roosevelt wins the US presidential election in a Democratic landslide, with 472 electoral votes to the Republican Herbert Hoover's 59 votes. In the House of Representatives, Democrats pick up 90 seats for a 310–117 majority; in the Senate, Democrats gain 13 seats for a majority of 60–35.
2 July 1934	Mexico	General Lázaro Cárdenas, of the reformist wing of the ruling National Revolutionary Party, is elected president of Mexico.
26 July 1945	UK	Labour wins a landslide victory in the British general election, with 393 seats against the Conservatives' 199. Clement Attlee becomes prime minister, Ernest Bevin foreign secretary, and Hugh Dalton chancellor of the Exchequer.
2 November 1948	USA	The Democratic candidate Harry S Truman wins the US presidential election. In the congressional elections the Democrats reclaim majorities in the House of Representative (263–171) and in the Senate (54–42).
November 1952	USA	Americans elect Dwight D Eisenhower as president in a landslide victory. In the Congressional elections, the Republican party regains control of the House (221–211) and Senate (48–47).
12 August 1957	British Guiana	Following Britain's decision to restore self-government in British Guiana (now Guyana), an election is held for 14 seats on a new legislative council. Cheddi Jagan's People's Progressive Party wins 9 seats and, on 15 August, Jagan forms a government.
26 September 1960	USA	US presidential candidates John F Kennedy and Richard M Nixon debate on television, establishing a precedent for several subsequent elections. Viewers consider the outcome to be a draw, but radio listeners believe Nixon to be the winner, indicating that style and appearance are as much a part of Kennedy's campaign as substance.
November 1960	USA	Americans elect John F Kennedy president and Lyndon B Johnson vice president in the closest popular vote in US history (49.7% to 49.6%). In the Congressional elections, Democrats retain majorities in the House (263-174) and Senate (65-35).
November 1968	USA	Americans elect Richard M Nixon president and Maryland governor Spiro T Agnew vice-president. In the Congressional elections, Democrats retain majorities in the House (243–192) and Senate (58–42).
5 November 1974	USA	Democrat Ella Grasso becomes governor of the state of Connecticut, and the first woman governor of a US state who is not the wife or widow of a former governor.
25 April 1975	Portugal	The first free elections in Portugal since the 1920s fail to produce an overall majority. The Socialists under Mario Soares emerge as the largest party.
19 September 1976	Sweden	The Swedish general election ends 40 years of government by the Social Democrats.
2 November 1976	USA	In the US presidential election, the Democratic candidate, Jimmy Carter, defeats the Republican, President Gerald Ford, with 297 electoral college votes to 241. Democrats retain majorities in the House (292-143) and Senate (68-31).
20 March 1977	India	The Congress Party is defeated in the Indian general election and the prime minister Indira Gandhi loses her seat.
15 June 1977	Spain	Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez wins a small majority in Spain's first general election since 1936.
4 November 1980	USA	In the US presidential election, the Republican candidate Ronald Reagan wins a sweeping victory over President Jimmy Carter, with 489 electoral votes against Carter's 49. The Republicans win control of the Senate and gain 33 seats in the House of Representatives.
10 May 1981	France	François Mitterrand becomes the first Socialist president of France, winning 51.7% of the vote to Valéry Giscard d'Estaing's 48.3%.
18 October 1981	Greece	Andreas Papandreou's Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok) wins the Greek general election and, on October 21, he forms Greece's first Socialist government.
6 March 1983	West Germany	Chancellor Helmut Kohl's ruling Christian Democratic Union wins the general election in West Germany, with the Green Party gaining its first seats in the Bundestag.
24 April 1983	Austria	Bruno Kreisky's Socialist Party loses its majority in the Austrian general election. A new coalition government is formed under Chancellor Fred Sinowatz on 11 May.
9 June 1983	UK	The Conservatives under Margaret Thatcher win an overall majority of 144 seats in the British general election, with 397 seats against Labour's 209 and the Liberal–SDP Alliance's 23.
16 March 1986	France	The opposition parties win a narrow majority in the French general election, ending five years of Socialist rule. On 20 March, Jacques Chirac, the Gaullist leader, is appointed prime minister.
11 June 1987	UK	Margaret Thatcher leads the Conservative Party to a third consecutive win in the British general elections.
16 November 1988	Pakistan	Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party wins 94 seats in the general election. On 2 December, she is sworn in as prime minister of Pakistan.
29 December 1989	Czechoslovakia	The former dissident Václav Havel attends a thanksgiving mass in St Vitus' Cathedral, Prague, after his inauguration as the first noncommunist president of Czechoslovakia for 41 years.
16 February 1990	Namibia	The SWAPO leader Sam Nujoma is elected the first president of independent Namibia. On 21 February, the Republic of Namibia becomes an independent sovereign state.
11 March 1990	Chile	General Augusto Pinochet, dictator of Chile since 1973, hands over power to elected president Patricio Aylwin.
7 November 1990	Ireland	Mary Robinson wins the Irish presidential election to become the country's first woman president.
22 March 1992	Albania	The opposition Democrat Party in Albania wins an absolute majority in general elections, ending 45 years of communist rule.
7 November 1992	USA	Bill (William Jefferson) Clinton (Democrat), the governor of Arkansas, wins the US presidential election with 370 electoral college votes. President George Bush (Republican) gains 168 electoral votes and H Ross Perot (Independent) fails to win any, although he takes 19% of the popular vote. In the Congressional elections the Democrats retain control of both chambers.
7 May 1993	South Africa	Multiparty talks in Johannesburg, South Africa, reach agreement for the holding of nonracial elections by April 1994.
15 August 1993	Paraguay	Juan Carlos Wasmosy becomes the first elected president of Paraguay since the country's foundation in 1811.
5 November 1996	USA	Bill Clinton is re-elected president of the USA, defeating Republican nominee Bob Dole with 379 electoral college votes to 159. The popular vote is Clinton 45,590,703; Dole 37,816,307; Reform candidate Ross Perot 7,866,284. The Republicans retain control of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
1 May 1997	UK	The Labour Party led by Tony Blair wins the general election in Britain; Labour wins 418 seats, the Conservatives 165, and the Liberal Democrats 46; the following day John Major resigns as leader of the Conservative Party.
13 February 1998	Australia	The Australian Constitutional Convention votes to replace the queen as head of state with a president chosen by a bipartisan parliamentary majority. A public referendum in 1999 will decide whether the country should become a republic.
15 February 1998	Cyprus	Glafkos John Clerides is re-elected president of Cyprus and in March and begins talks with the European Union (EU) on the country's possible accession.
19 March 1998	India	Atal Behari Vajpayee, Nationalist BJP party leader, is elected prime minister of India. He calls for national ‘reconciliation and accord’, but also threatens that India might install and deploy nuclear weapons.
13 September 1998	Bosnia-Herzegovina	Nikola Poplasen, leader of the Serb Radical Party, is elected president of the Serb republic in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
6 February 2000	Finland	Foreign Minister Tarja Halonen of the Social Democratic Party is elected Finland's first woman president.
4 May 2000	UK	Independent candidate Ken Livingstone is elected mayor of London. He wins a total of 776,427 votes against 564,137 for Steven Norris, the Conservative candidate. The other candidates, including Labour's Frank Dobson and Liberal Democrat Susan Kramer, are eliminated after a first round of counting.
27 June 2000	Zimbabwe	The opposition Movement for Democratic Change party gains 57 seats in Zimbabwe's parliament, just five short of the elected total for the ruling Zanu-PF party. While the opposition and observers condemn the electoral process as corrupt, President Mugabe celebrates his party's narrow victory and vows to continue his policy of seizing and redistributing land.
13 December 2000	USA	Five weeks after the disputed US presidential election, a ruling by the Supreme Court effectively cancels recounts in Florida. This hands the White House to the Republican Party candidate George W Bush.
20 January 2001	USA	George W Bush of the Republican Party is sworn in as the 43rd president of the USA. Outgoing president Bill Clinton leaves office with immunity from criminal prosecution for lying about his sexual liaisons with Monica Lewinsky.
7 June 2001	UK	In a general election in the UK, the Labour Party retains power in its second consecutive landslide victory. Labour wins 413 seats in the House of Commons, the Conservative Party 166, the Liberal Democrats 52 and others 28. The Ulster Unionist Party loses three of its nine seats to the hardline Democratic Unionists. Voter turnout is only 59%, lower than at any time since 1918.
9–19 March 2002	Zimbabwe	Robert Mugabe claims re-election as president of Zimbabwe after a campaign marred by alleged ballot rigging and intimidation of opponents of the ruling ZANU-PF regime. International condemnation of the result is reinforced by Zimbabwe's suspension from the Commonwealth for a year, a move backed by the influential African states of Nigeria and South Africa.