Please read the following table in HTML format from a webpage and then answer the question in detail according to the table. Each table cell is defined by a <td> and a </td> tag. Each table row starts with a <tr> and ends with a </tr> tag. 'rowspan=m' and 'colspan=n' represents a cell spaning over 'm' rows and 'n' columns.

Webpage title:
William Jennings Bryan 1896 presidential campaign
Table title:
Results
Table:
<table id='hittask' contenteditable='False'>
<tr> <th colspan=1 rowspan=2 > Presidential candidate </th><th colspan=1 rowspan=2 > Party </th><th colspan=1 rowspan=2 > Home state </th><th colspan=2 rowspan=1 > Popular vote </th><th colspan=1 rowspan=2 > Electoral vote </th><th colspan=3 rowspan=1 > Running mate </th></tr>
<tr> <th colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Count </th><th colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Percentage </th><th colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Vice-presidential candidate </th></tr>
<tr> <td class="highlighted"  colspan=1 rowspan=1 > William McKinley </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Republican </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Ohio </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 7,102,246 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 51.0% </td><td class="highlighted"  colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 271 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Garret A. Hobart </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > New Jersey </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 271 </td></tr>
<tr> <td class="highlighted"  colspan=1 rowspan=2 > William Jennings Bryan </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=2 > Democratic/ Populist </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=2 > Nebraska </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=2 > 6,492,559 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=2 > 46.7% </td><td class="highlighted"  colspan=1 rowspan=2 > 176 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Arthur Sewall </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Maine </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 149 </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Thomas E. Watson </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Georgia </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 27 </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > John M. Palmer </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > National Democratic </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Illinois </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 133,537 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 0.96% </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 0 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Simon Bolivar Buckner </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Kentucky </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 0 </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Joshua Levering </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Prohibition </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Maryland </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 124,896 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 0.90% </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 0 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Hale Johnson </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Illinois </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 0 </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Charles Matchett </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Socialist Labor </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > New York </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 36,359 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 0.26% </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 0 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Matthew Maguire </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > New Jersey </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 0 </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Charles Eugene Bentley </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > National Prohibition </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Nebraska </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 19,367 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 0.14% </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 0 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > James Southgate </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > North Carolina </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 0 </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=3 rowspan=1 > Other </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 1,570 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 0.0% </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > — </td><td colspan=2 rowspan=1 > Other </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > — </td></tr>
<tr> <th colspan=3 rowspan=1 > Total </th><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 13,905,691 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 100% </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 447 </td><td colspan=2 rowspan=1 >  </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 447 </td></tr>
<tr> <th colspan=5 rowspan=1 > Needed to win </th><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 224 </td><td colspan=2 rowspan=1 >  </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 224 </td></tr>
</table>
Question:
How close was the election for William McKinley and William Jennings Bryan in the 1896 presidential campaign?
Answer:
In the 1896 presidential campaign, the electoral vote was not as close: 271 for McKinley to 176 for William Jennings Bryan.