A Different Kind of Election
The election of 1864 was, in several ways, unique. Although there would have been ample reason to postpone the election, the nation went forward with the democratic process despite the lack of precedent for voting in a divided nation. For the first and only time, a portion of the United States did not participate in the election. The states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia did not cast votes, upholding Jefferson Davis as their own president.