November 6, 2026
The recent election has been the subject of conversation in my household. Yesterday, one of my sons mentioned that it’s amazing how much information about elections is available online. It’s easy to find immediate results such as the winner of a coroner’s race in an obscure county in New Hampshire almost immediately. That’s true even if the race occurred on the other side of the country.
My son then wondered how people got election results before the internet. How people got election information depended on the time. Most people have had television since the 1950s. Radios have been common household items since the 1920s. Election results have been broadcast as soon as they were available via both media.
Newspapers have been published in the United States since the 1700s. Election results were always printed in them. The timeliness of the results depended on how quickly the newspaper received the information. In earlier eras, transportation was slow. Before railroads became common in the 1850s and 60s, horses and wagons were the only transportation options other than walking. It often took weeks or even months before a newspaper found out who won an election.
The delay in learning who won an election didn’t matter much. Before the Civil War average people weren’t concerned about elections. Large swaths of the population weren’t even eligible to participate. It’s only been a little more than a hundred years since women became eligible to vote. The 15th amendment was ratified in 1870 and gave black men the right to vote. In practice, most black people were disenfranchised in many parts of the United States well into the 20th century. Native Americans could not vote until 1924.
During much of the 19th century, America was a land of immigrants. Many of them spoke little English and hadn’t been naturalized. American politics were of little interest to them. They were focused on making a life for themselves and their families.
Many Americans, native-born and immigrants were migrating west in search of better opportunities. Many of them didn’t think it mattered who was in the White House or who was their senator or congressman. None of them would affect their day-to-day lives. Even if they could vote, they often didn’t.
If you wonder if any of your own ancestors voted, it is sometimes possible to find voting records. Family Search is a good place to start. Check the Family Search catalog for voting records for a specific county or town. Ancestry and My Heritage both have collections of voting records which can be accessed via their card catalogs. State archives may also contain voter registrations and records.
Voting records are often overlooked, but they can help fill in the blanks between census years, document citizenship and identify exact place of residence. Plus, it’s a peek into an ancestor’s life to learn who he voted for. Thanks to voter records, I learned that one of my husband’s ancestors voted for Martin Van Buren in 1840. I don’t know how much this ancestor cared about politics, but he clearly cared enough to vote.
Carol Stetser
Researcher
Larimer County Genealogical Society