New Jersey, Split Electoral Vote, 1860

[ill ind]

  The way that I understand it is that indeed voters cast ballots for entire tickets.  Party leaders would hand out tickets with all of the electors names printed on them, then on election day you would take yoour 'ticket' to the voting booth and put it into the box.  This is how you voted.
  There was a provision that allowed you to take a pencil and scratch off the name of anybody on the ticket that you didn't wish to vote for.  I imagine there was some of that in New Jersey too where people crossed off the names of the Bell and Breckenridge electors as a sign of their dissaproval of the 'fusion' ticket.

Ill_Ind

[ill ind]

  I believe that in the case of Connecticut there were actually 5 tickets out there.  In addition to the Lincoln, Douglas, Breckenridge, and Bell tickets there was also a fusion ticket that only was distributed in some areas.
  Who those votes were eventually counted for, I do not know.
  As a Wisconsin native, I'm often perplexed by the fact that Bell and Breckenridge together got only 3/4 of 1% of the entire vote.  Hardly any support whatsoever.

Ill_Ind