1888 Presidential Election in Indiana
The practice of voting fraud is an old and well-established process with its own vocabulary. A “repeater” for example is a voter who votes several times in one district, usually at the behest of party operatives who help find the way to the polls. A floater is a voter who, like a repeater, visits more than one polling place in a given election and is compensated for his services by the party for which he votes. In areas where no voter registration exists, floaters and repeaters flourish, as they did in the state of Indiana in 1888.
Floaters and repeaters were aided by the practice of local political party offices pre-printing ballots which contained the names of their candidates. A floater carried the ballots for insertion into the ballot box, rather than filling out a ballot at the polls. The ballots were large enough that poll workers or other interested observers could see how a particular voter voted, and then bribe other voters accordingly, to either offset or supplement the vote.
In 1888, Republican Candidate Benjamin Harrison was running against Democratic President Grover Cleveland. Harrison was aware of the president’s popularity with voters, and his strategy included defeating Cleveland in his own home state, New York, as well as carrying Indiana, Harrison’s home state. To do so required him to engage in fraudulent voting practices which the voting laws of the two states made practicable.
In Indiana the Republicans not only planned to buy votes using floaters, but they put the plan in writing. While the Republican candidate extolled the virtues of legal votes from the campaign pulpit, his supporter William Dudley implemented plans to purchase votes, instructing campaign workers to “…divide the floaters into blocks of five, and put a trusted man with necessary funds in charge…” Despite the instructions and the entire plan being revealed in newspapers nationwide prior to the election, the Republicans went ahead with it during the election.
Grover Cleveland won the popular vote nationwide, but Benjamin Harrison carried Indiana and through similar approaches to voting in New York, carried that state as well. Harrison won the Electoral College, carrying 20 of the 38 states. Harrison never admitted being aware of Dudley’s vote buying, nor did he ever deny knowledge, but after securing the presidency he never contacted his long-time friend again.