The Democrats charged that the election had not been fairly conducted, asserting openly that many Democratic votes in the South had been thrown out instead of being duly counted by those entrusted with the duty of counting them. The votes from South Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida, where carpet-bag government and Negro rule prevailed, were hotly contested. Investigation showed fraud on both sides in these states. Two sets of electors, both insisting that they were legally and properly elected, met and sent their results to Congress. This produced grave concern as there was no provision in the Constitution to meet such a contingency. The uncertainty produced a tense situation. Some conservatives advocated calmness and patience until news from doubtful states could be confirmed. Others saw nothing but crookedness and excitedly claimed fraud. Each party sent some of its political leaders to the state capitals, where the issue was at question to observe and report from the spot. So grave were the apprehensions over the state of affairs that Congress was called upon to settle the matter. To meet the crisis, they created an electoral commission to consist of five Senators, five Representatives, and five Supreme Court Justices. Upon this body was placed the responsibility for the decision. The members of the Electoral Commission were as follows: From the Senate, George P. Edwards, Vermont; Oliver P. Morton, Indiana; Frederick Frelinghuysen, New Jersey; Thomas F. Bayard, Delaware; Allen G. Thurman, Ohio; from the House of Representatives, Harry B. Payne, Ohio; Eppa Hunton, Virginia; Josiah C. Abbot, Massachusetts; James A. Garfield, Ohio; George F. Hoar, Massachusetts; from the Supreme Court, Clifford, Miller, Field, Strong, and Bradley. Senator Francis Kernan substituted for Senator Thurman, who was incapacitated by illness. Ben Perley Poore, noted correspondent, has left a vivid picture of the conditions of the public mind at this time, and also the extreme measures used and the pressure each party threw into the concluding hours of debate and discussion through which a settlement was finally reached. In part, he says: “The counting of the electoral vote on the 2d of February, 1877, attracted crowds to the House of Representatives. Even the diplomats came out in force, and for once their gallery was full.... At one o’clock the Senate came over in solemn procession, preceded by the veteran Captain Bassett, who had in charge two mahogany boxes, in which were locked the votes upon which the fate of the nation depended....