[SUBMITTED PHOTO]This is a Democratic Party ballot for the November 6, 1860, U.S. Presidential Election. It had to be signed on the back to be counted and is in the Botetourt County Museum. John Cabell Breckinridge (on left) was the 14th vice-president at the time and was General James Breckinridge’s great-nephew. He won 12 states and 72 electoral votes out of the 152 needed to win. Nationwide turnout was 81.2 percent. However, the newly formed anti-slavery Republican Party had become a major political force and Abraham Lincoln was elected President with 180 electoral votes. It was a four-way contest with John Bell and Stephen Douglas also running.
