SKU: 90437441369

Ballot Battles: The History of Disputed Elections in the United States

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Ballot Battles: The History of Disputed Elections in the United StatesThe 2000 presidential race resulted in the highest profile ballot battle in over a century. But it is far from the only American election determined by a handful of votes and marred by claims of fraud. Since the founding of the nation, violence frequently erupted as the votes were being counted, and more than a few elections produced manifestly unfair results. Despite America's claim to be the world's greatest democracy, its adherence to the basic

The 2000 presidential race resulted in the highest-profile ballot battle in over a century. But it is far from the only American election determined by a handful of votes and marred by claims of fraud. Since the founding of the nation, violence frequently erupted as the votes were being counted, and more than a few elections produced manifestly unfair results. Despite America's claim to be the world's greatest democracy, its adherence to the basic tenets of democratic elections-the ability to count ballots accurately and fairly even when the stakes are high-has always been shaky. A rigged gubernatorial election in New York in 1792 nearly ended in calls for another revolution, and an 1899 gubernatorial race even resulted in an assassination. Though acts of violence have decreased in frequency over the past century, fairness and accuracy in ballot counting nonetheless remains a basic problem in American political life.

In Ballot Battles, Edward Foley presents a sweeping history of election controversies in the United States, tracing how their evolution generated legal precedents that ultimately transformed how we determine who wins and who loses. While weaving a narrative spanning over two centuries, Foley repeatedly returns to an originating event: because the Founding Fathers despised parties and never envisioned the emergence of a party system, they wrote a constitution that did not provide clear solutions for high-stakes and highly-contested elections in which two parties could pool resources against one another. Moreover, in the American political system that actually developed, politicians are beholden to the parties which they represent - and elected officials have typically had an outsized say in determining the outcomes of extremely close elections that involve recounts. This underlying structural problem, more than anything else, explains why intense ballot battles that leave one side feeling aggrieved will continue to occur for the foreseeable future.

American democracy has improved dramatically over the last two centuries. But the same cannot be said for the ways in which we determine who wins the very close races. From the founding until today, there has been little progress toward fixing the problem. Indeed, supporters of John Jay in 1792 and opponents of Lyndon Johnson in the 1948 Texas Senate race would find it easy to commiserate with Al Gore after the 2000 election. Ballot Battles is not only the first full chronicle of contested elections in the US. It also provides a powerful explanation of why the American election system has been-and remains-so ineffective at deciding the tightest races in a way that all sides will agree is fair.

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SKU: 90437441369

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Kallisti
Whiting, US
★★★★★ 5
Best LitRPG
Format: Kindle
This is absolutely the best litRPG I've ever read as well as the best self-published series. Between the character progression, the amazing sense of humor, and the relatability of the characters, this is my top recommendation for anyone interested in litRPGs. I fell in love so much that I had to sign up for the Patreon account so I could get my fix regularly (5 new chapters each week). I even managed to get my roommate hooked on the audiobooks. If you're looking for a fun story with loveable characters, surprising insights, and epic fights, this is for you.
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Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2022
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Bozeman, US
★★★★★ 5
What the??!!!!??
Format: Kindle
This book"kills" it!!! It kept making me laugh out loud and waking up my wife... NOT COOL!! She needs her sleep...and I can't really tell her what is so darn funny because She Hasn't read any of this series and wont get the joke. It also brought tears to my eyes reminding me of actual life events I've lived through. Loss,honor, loyalty, friendship, dangerous situations... Amazing stuff! I can't stop laughing and reading. Awesome...
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Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2025
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AC
Birmingham, US
★★★★★ 4
A lot of useless skipping around...
Format: Kindle
So, I really enjoy the underlying story, but I really wish the writing was cleaned up. There were so many little sections, a few paragraphs to a few pages that were bouncing all over the place. And while some sort of moved the plot along, the vast majority were just filler. It would have been significantly more fluid if events were portrayed through characters experiences, than just having narration about everything happening all over. In addition, I know this is a web novel, and they tend to be written chapter by chapter. This, painfully, results in less cohesion from start to middle to end. The story ends up feeling choppy, and the overall arc throughout the book suffers. In fact, over >700 pages and we really didn't make a ton of headway until ~60% of the way through the book. That's when things really started. The majority before was fluff and filler. Useful, but only once distilled and refined. I'm really hoping that for future books, Shirtaloon spends some time really thinking what is critical for the plot, and how to incorporate as much of that plot progression through the lenses of the characters in lieu of just narrating pages and pages of stuff. For example, instead of spending 100s of pages on mentioning all the places in the world crumbling from infighting and corruption, instead portray that through the character. It reads so much better, and ends up being more concise, and allows for opportunities for further character development all while building the world. I love more story, but I'd prefer reading a 700 page story. Not a 400 page story in 700 pages. Let's make all the pages matter.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2022
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Stephen
Lowell, US
★★★★★ 5
great series
Format: Kindle
I have really enjoyed these books. Highly recommend reading them. Plan to read all of the series. Keeps getting better.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2026
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E. L. Romine
Lexington, US
★★★★★ 5
Another Good One in the Bag
Format: Kindle
Love the change this adventure keeps taking. We go from our LitFantasy to a comic book adventure. One of the most interesting LIT tales I have read so far. The adventure continues to hold you captured and throws in a few twist. Didn’t see those 3 making an appearance in the Reapers Realm. But, no other spoilers, just read it; it’s definitely worth reading!!! Cheers 🍻 Peace ✌🏾 & Love ❤️
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Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2025

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