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Thomas Jefferson

Presidency

What complication resulted from the election of 1800?

The problem in the election of 1800 was that Jefferson received the same number of votes as his presumed vice presidential candidate, Aaron Burr. Both Jefferson and Burr received seventy-three votes. Because the two received the same number of votes, the House of Representatives voted to determine who would serve as President. This problem led to the relatively quick passage of the Twelfth Amendment a few years later in 1804.