According to the 12th Amendment to the United States Constitution:
“…The person having the greatest number of (Elector) votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President.”1
We may think that the election process has had some terrible bumps since the 2000 election year between George W. Bush and Al Gore that had to be settled in the Supreme Court. Then, there was the 2016 battle between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton where Trump received 304 Electoral votes vs. 227 that went to Clinton. However, Trump lost the popular vote by 2.9 million. We well remember the events of the 2020 campaign, the claims of a stolen election, Russian collusion, the Mueller investigation, and the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021. And we are just wishing that the campaign and election of 2024 was over.
But this is nothing new.
1824. The two main contenders were John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts and Andrew Jackson of Tennessee. Two others, Secretary of State William Crawford and Representative Henry Clay of Kentucky also ran. When the dust settled after the election, nobody had won the necessary Electoral votes.
A total of 261 votes were up for grabs and the winner had to secure 131. Andrew Jackson won 99 electoral and 153,544 popular votes; John Quincy Adams received 84 electoral and 108,740 popular votes; Secretary of State William H. Crawford, who had suffered a stroke before the election, received 41 electoral votes; and Representative Henry Clay won 37 electoral votes.1
Based on the Constitution, Clay is automatically out of the running and his name is not brought before the House. Though Crawford is legitimately a part of the three men in the running, his medical condition doesn’t make him a viable candidate. Clay decided to throw his support behind Adams which set off quite a political explosion.
On this day in 1825, the House elected John Quincy Adams to be the sixth President of the United States. Though Adams was “runner-up” to Jackson in both electoral and popular votes, he is now the president. As one of his first acts, he appoints Henry Clay to be the Secretary of State. This appointment immediately draws the scrutiny of the nation and is dubbed The Corrupt Bargain. This tainted Adams’ presidency, making it essentially ineffectual. 
Who caused this mess? Who’s to blame? Is it the American voters who should have gotten behind a candidate? Was it the fault of Clay and Crawford for splitting the vote? Was it the fault of those who wrote the 12th Amendment? Should the House be blamed? Was there really a corrupt bargain that was made?
Historians could probably make a case for any of these scenarios. Only God knows. And only God knows what’s going to happen in 2024. But isn’t that the point?
Human authority really isn’t instituted by humanity. It’s instituted by God. Romans 13:1 says, “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.” No Bible character seems to be more aware of this fact than Daniel.
“Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: (21) And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding… (37) Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. (38) And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold… (4:17) This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.” (Daniel 2:20-21, 37-38; 4:17)
In the Old Testament, we see where the people appointed a king even against God’s wishes. Does that negate God’s sovereignty over the affairs of man? Not at all. God merely allowed people to have the desire of their heart as a punishment for going against His heart.
I cannot predict where the elections are going for 2024 nor can I guess the repercussions of those decisions. All I can do is vote my convictions based on the Word of God and vote the direction I believe God is leading. Ultimately, though, I know it’s in His hands.
“But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.” (Psalms 115:3)
1https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/presidential-election-decided-in-the-house
