The 1836 election is unusual as
"It was the only race in which a major political party intentionally ran several presidential candidates. The Whigs ran three different candidates in different regions of the country, hoping that each would be popular enough to defeat Democratic standard-bearer Martin Van Buren in their respective areas. The House of Representatives could then decide between the competing Whig candidates. This strategy failed: Van Buren won a majority of the electoral vote and became President." [
Source]
Because of this situation, the method of calculation used was
not to make another candidate win, but to find the minimum number of votes needed
for Van Buren to lose. He would then
not have a majority in the electoral vote and the election would be thrown into the House, as the Whig Party had planned.
VAN BUREN
Change of VotesFrom Van Buren to which Candidate? Rhode Island128Harrison Louisiana130White Connecticut248Harrison Mississippi258White Arkansas524White
TOTAL1,288
Had Van Buren
lost those states, totalling 24 electoral votes, the election would have gone to the House of Representatives.