Evening star., 1928-11-08
Popular and Electoral Votes.

With the presidential result of the
election settled to a certainty and with
the composition of the next Congress
assured with only a few possible
changes, there remains to be deter
mined from Tuesdays balloting the
exact number Of the votes cast in
the States at this election. The regis
tration was computed at approximately
43,o0o,Qoo. On the basis of experience
and In the light of the exceptional
public interest in the contest in prac-
tically every State, it was before elec-
ton believed that 100000 votes would
be cast. It will be some time before
the precise total is known. At the pres
ent no single State has made a COM
plete return, for even in the very few
from which reports are received from
all Of the voting units, towns, precincts
or districts, perfect tabulations are yet
10 be made. AS the popular vote" table
now stands, Hoover received the votes
Of 1929, ,10S and Smith those Of H.
eS9, ,093, total of more than 81 ,000, 600.
There were then missing nearly twenty
per cent of the total Of. election units.
II the missing units contribute a pro-
portionate volume to the total, the final
poll will prove to be about 37,0oo,ooo
votes, or, roughly, eight millions more
than were cast In 1924.
m&kfa a.a 70 a. total
and in regard to the standing of the
electoral college, Tuesdays contest is
unprecedented. Never before since the
two elections of George Washington has
q candidate for the presidency received
20 high a percentage Of electoral votes
as will Herbert Hoover when the elec-
tors of the States meet in their respec-
tive states to register the will Of the peo-
pie as expressed on Tuesday. In 1872
Gen. Grant, Republican candidate for
second term, was given 286 electoral
votes out of 352, or about 8l.S per cent
Of the total. Horace Greeley was the NOM
iree Of the Democratic party that year,
but his death just after election caused
\ distribution of his 66 electoral votes
among q number Of men. In 1912
woodrow Wilson received ABS out OF
53l votes, 96 being divided between
Roosevelt and Taft. Wilson's vote was
8io2 per cent Of the total. Mr.. Hoo
ver's 44l electoral votes out Of 531 give
him a percentage of 1851 Of the total.
Although defeated, Gov. Smith has
scored at least a record of the largest
number of Democratic votes ever cast
In an election. The highest number up
to this year was that given in 1920 to
James M. Cox, s,127.353. The vote cast
ln 1924 for John w. Davis was s,S46,5oS.
The highest vote given to woodrow
wilson, s,12s,6o6. in 1915, was smaller
Staan that cast for Cox.
Whatever figuring is done with the
statistics Of the election, there is no
other conclusion than that the people
Of this country have in the most en-
phatic manner ever manifested since
1892, when for the second time George
Washington was chosen, as 1t were, by
accia1nation, pronounced their will in
respect TO the presidency. There are
no elements Of doubt or question in the
peturns. There is no shade Of chance
Of contest or disputation. Indirect
though the electoral college system may
be, cumbersome though the election
machinery Is through widely varying
State laws and customs, nevertheless
the taking of the public will is effected
with assurance. Only twice in the Ma
TONS history has the contest been so
close as to necessitate the invocation Of
Congress. Narrow as have been the
margins on some other occasions, there
has always been SUFFICIENT definition to
insure public acceptance of the verdict
almost Immediately after the closing of
the polls.