_The Disputed Election of 1876._--In 1876 a serious election dispute arose, involving the presidency. Both Hayes and Tilden claimed to have been elected, and the result depended upon which of two conflicting lists of votes from Florida, Oregon, South Carolina, and Louisiana should be counted. Under the joint rule mentioned above, either house could reject a questionable vote. One of the houses was Democratic and the other Republican, and because of the great excitement over the matter, it was feared that the votes of many states might be rejected for trivial reasons. After much discussion, in the course of which many ugly threats were made, Congress agreed to the creation of an electoral commission, to decide the disputed votes. The commission was to consist of five senators, five representatives, and five justices of the Supreme Court. As finally constituted it was composed of eight Republicans and seven Democrats, and by a strict party vote the commission decided in favor of Hayes in every case, thus insuring his election. The minority accepted the result, but not without protest and criticism. _The Act of 1887._--After this decision, Congress took up the task of devising permanent rules for counting the electoral vote, and finally in 1887 it passed an elaborate act which now regulates the electoral count. In brief, it places the responsibility so far as possible on the state authorities, and provides that the determination of each state as to how its electoral vote was cast shall, under certain conditions, be final. If, however, a state neglects to settle its own election contests, and double returns are transmitted to the president of the senate, the two houses of Congress sitting separately must determine how the votes shall be counted. But if the two houses fail to agree, as they did in counting the vote of 1876, then the vote of the state is lost. The day fixed by Congress for opening and counting the vote is the second Wednesday in February. =Election by the House.=--In case no candidate receives a majority of the electoral votes, the choice devolves upon the house of representatives. But in that case the house votes by states, each state having one vote, irrespective of its number of representatives, and the choice is made from the three candidates standing highest on the list.[65] A quorum for the election of a President by the house consists of a member or members from two thirds of the states, and the vote of a majority of all the states is necessary to a choice. [65] It was from the five highest before the adoption of the Twelfth Amendment in 1804.