Blocks of Five
Encyclopedia
The Blocks of Five were groups of electors who sold their votes
to the United States Republican Party for the United States presidential election of 1888
.
, prior to the adoption of the secret ballot
in Federal elections, political parties printed ballots and distributed them to their voters, who then cast them at their polling stations. Republican campaigner William Wade Dudley
sent a circular
on October 24, 1888 to Indiana
Republican officials, telling them to "divide the floaters [vote sellers] into blocks of five" and appoint a trusted leader who would be given the money to pay them for their fraud.
The plan was exposed when a railroad official turned one up and it was subsequently publicized. The Republican candidate Benjamin Harrison
was elected anyway. The publicity of the notoriously brazen fraud is credited with aiding states' adoption of the secret ballot.
Electoral fraud
Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an election. Acts of fraud affect vote counts to bring about an election result, whether by increasing the vote share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival candidates or both...
to the United States Republican Party for the United States presidential election of 1888
United States presidential election, 1888
The 1888 election for President of the United States saw Grover Cleveland of New York, the incumbent president and a Democrat, try to secure a second term against the Republican nominee Benjamin Harrison, a former U.S. Senator from Indiana...
.
Background
In the Gilded AgeGilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age refers to the era of rapid economic and population growth in the United States during the post–Civil War and post-Reconstruction eras of the late 19th century. The term "Gilded Age" was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their book The Gilded...
, prior to the adoption of the secret ballot
Secret ballot
The secret ballot is a voting method in which a voter's choices in an election or a referendum are anonymous. The key aim is to ensure the voter records a sincere choice by forestalling attempts to influence the voter by intimidation or bribery. The system is one means of achieving the goal of...
in Federal elections, political parties printed ballots and distributed them to their voters, who then cast them at their polling stations. Republican campaigner William Wade Dudley
William Wade Dudley
William Wade Dudley , born in Weathersfield Bow, Vermont, started life as a soldier in the American Civil War, then became a lawyer, a government official and a Republican campaigner.-Background:William Wade Dudley was the son of Rev...
sent a circular
Circular
Circular is a basic geometric shape such as a Circle.Circular may also refer to:-Documents:*Circular note, a document request by a bank to its foreign correspondents to pay a specified sum of money to a named person...
on October 24, 1888 to Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
Republican officials, telling them to "divide the floaters [vote sellers] into blocks of five" and appoint a trusted leader who would be given the money to pay them for their fraud.
The plan was exposed when a railroad official turned one up and it was subsequently publicized. The Republican candidate Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States . Harrison, a grandson of President William Henry Harrison, was born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at age 21, eventually becoming a prominent politician there...
was elected anyway. The publicity of the notoriously brazen fraud is credited with aiding states' adoption of the secret ballot.