It was a very startling fact that if Mr.Seymour had received the electoral vote of the solid South (which afterwards came to be regarded either as the rightful inheritance or the fraudulent prerogative of the Democratic part), he would, in connection with the vote he received in the North, have had a majority over General Grant in the Electoral College.
Considering the time of the election, considering the record and the achievements of the rival candidates, the Presidential election of 1868 must be regarded as the most remarkable and the most unaccountable in our political annals.
The result was not comforting to the thoughtful men who interpreted its true significance and comprehended the possibilities to which it pointed.

Of the reconstructed States (eight in number) General Grant received the electoral votes of six,--North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, and Florida.

A full vote was secured in each, and the lawfulness and fairness of the result under the system of Reconstruction were not questioned.

The vote of Georgia was disputed on account of some alleged irregularity in her compliance with the Acts of Reconstruction, and the suspicion that the Presidential election was not fairly conducted.

But in Louisiana there was no moral doubt that violence and disorder had done their evil work.
The result in that State was declared to be in favor of Mr.Seymour.
The subject was brought before Congress, and the counting of the votes of these States was challenged; but as the alleged irregularity in Georgia and the alleged fraud in Louisiana had not been legally investigated, Congress (Republican at that time by a large majority in both branches) declined to exclude them from the electoral count.
There was great dissatisfaction on the part of a considerable number of Republicans in Congress with the determination to admit the vote of Louisiana without some qualifying record or explanation.