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Elections are a fundamental aspect of any democratic society, allowing citizens to choose their leaders and shape the direction of their country. From local elections to national elections, the process of voting and selecting representatives is a complex and multifaceted endeavor. The electoral process can be different from one country to another, and it's important to understand the rules and procedures in each country. However, not everyone is aware of the interesting trivia and facts surrounding elections. Here are a few examples of election trivia questions that might test your knowledge:
These are just a few examples of the many fascinating facts and trivia related to elections. Whether you're a student of political science or just someone who is curious about how elections work, these questions can be a fun and interesting way to learn more about the electoral process.
1. Because they occur halfway between presidential election years, the 2022 U.S. House and Senate elections are commonly known by what name also used to refer to an important exam halfway through a college semester?
Answer: Midterms
2. Thanks to the work of Kate Sheppard, among others, New Zealand was the first country in the world to give votes in national elections to what group of people?
Answer: Women
3. The 2000 U.S. presidential election was officially decided by a controversial Supreme Court decision following a recount of votes in what state? The recount determined that George W. Bush had defeated Al Gore in that state by a mere 537 votes.
Answer: Florida
4. In 2004, allegations of fraud against Viktor Yanukovych, the purported winner of a presidential election, led to the Orange Revolution in what country?
Answer: Ukraine
5. Double the last letter in the name of a strong cotton fabric to get what verb that means going through a district to solicit votes in person?
Answer: Canvassing
6. The title character befriends transfer student Pedro and helps Pedro run for class president against popular girl Summer, in what 2004 comedy film?
Answer: Napoleon Dynamite
7. David Palmer successfully won a presidential election after Jack Bauer foiled an assassination attempt on him during his campaign, in what Fox drama series?
Answer: 24
8. On May 3, 2022, incumbent Todd Young was the only Republican candidate in the U.S. Senate primary election in which state?
Answer: Indiana
9. Since 1965, residents of Gambia have been casting their votes for president by dropping a small object into a drum. What’s the name of the tiny glass globes they use instead of paper ballots?
Answer: Marbles
10. What County v. Holder, a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision, struck down the preclearance provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The name of what Alabama county, by which the decision is commonly known, fills in the blank?
Answer: Shelby
11. Which Republican president was the most recent to win Hamilton County, Ohio, home of Cincinnati, in 2004?
Answer: George W. Bush
12. Twelve years after Labor Party leader Julia Gilliard became their first female prime minister, what Southern Hemisphere country recently pivoted back to a Labor PM with their recent election of Anthony Albanese?
Answer: Australia
13. “Compulsory,” “universal civic duty,” and “mandatory” are all terms that describe which act that citizens of legal age must partake in if they live in countries like Australia, Luxembourg, and Egypt?
Answer: Voting
14. What state, previously governed by figures like Bob McDonnell and Ralph Northam, is the only one in the U.S. where governors are prohibited from running for consecutive terms?
Answer: Virginia
15. Days after the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who continued to lead his party after stepping down, the Liberal Democratic Party was victorious in July 2022 elections in what country?
Answer: Japan
16. In response to a question about pay equity during a 2012 presidential debate, Mitt Romney stated that when filling his cabinet as governor of Massachusetts, women's political group MassGAP sent him nearly 200 résumés of female candidates, which Romney clumsily described with what four-word phrase?
Answer: Binders full of women
17. The most common method used in U.S. elections is often abbreviated "FPTP," where the acronym stands for what four-word phrase?
Answer: First past the post
18. Just like the sports analytics of "Moneyball," Nate Silver used sabermetrics to balance political polling on what bygone website named for the number of electors in the U.S. Electoral College?
Answer: FiveThirtyEight
19. In 2020, Sarah McBride became the first openly transgender state senator in American history when she was elected to the legislature of what second-smallest state?
Answer: Delaware
20. Former President Theodore Roosevelt formed the Progressive Party in 1912 after he lost the Republican presidential nomination to his former protégé William Howard Taft. The new party was nicknamed after an animal because Roosevelt boasted that he felt "strong as” what animal?
Answer: Bull Moose
21. In the 2000 and 2004 elections, who was the campaign manager and senior advisor for George W. Bush?
Answer: Karl Rove
22. The election of 1912 was the first one to feature the 48 contiguous states, thanks to Arizona and New Mexico joining the union prior to the election. Both of those states went to which eventual winner?
Answer: Woodrow Wilson
23. Who was chief justice of the Supreme Court at the time the controversial Supreme Court decision "Bush v. Gore," was handed down on December 12, 2000?
Answer: William Rehnquist
24. What Kentucky-born presidential candidate swung his support to John Quincy Adams after finishing fourth in the 1824 election, helping Adams to prevail in a House of Representatives vote?
Answer: Henry Clay
25. The 2008 presidential election featured the major party tickets of Obama-Biden and McCain-Palin. It also featured a few independent candidates, including which man and consumer advocate, who ran for president in 1996, 2000, and 2004 under the Green and Reform party lines?
Answer: Ralph Nader
26. The Fifth Party System in the United States, which hosted relative Democratic dominance with their New Deal Coalition, began with which president's 1932 election?
Answer: Franklin D Roosevelt
27. The public comment "I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach" is thought to be a major reason that Democrat Terry McAuliffe lost his 2021 bid to be re-elected as governor of what state?
Answer: Virginia
28. "Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow" was a Super PAC founded by what U.S. comedian who raised awareness of Super PACs in his late-night television program during 2012?
Answer: Stephen Colbert
29. Taking 525 electoral votes to Walter Mondale's 13, what president won re-election in 1984 in one of the biggest landslides in American history?
Answer: Ronald Reagan
30. In the United Kingdom, the Conservative Party has been in power stretching back to when David Cameron defeated Gordon Brown in the general election in which year?
Answer: 2010
31. French for “speak the truth,” the phrase “voir dire” can refer to the selection of a what for a trial as well as the oath the people on it take?
Answer: Jury
32. What Democratic president won the 1964 election by a massive 486-52 electoral vote margin in the last election, where the western states of Idaho, North Dakota, Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma voted Democrat?
Answer: Lyndon B. Johnson
33. The 1948 United States presidential election ended with the winner holding a newspaper with what erroneous three-word headline? The headline implied the then-Governor of New York had, in fact, won against a former vice president who assumed office when his predecessor died.
Answer: Dewey Defeats Truman
34. What losing candidate received the first presidential electoral votes cast from the state of Alaska, after it was admitted to the United States?
Answer: Richard Nixon
35. According to Nielsen ratings, the most-watched vice presidential debate in history was a face-off between Joe Biden and which running mate of John McCain?
Answer: Sarah Palin
36. In the 2020 general election, what state governed by Doug Ducey voted to legalize recreational marijuana in a ballot proposition known as the Smart and Safe Act?
Answer: Arizona
37. Celebrated two days after Election Day, Return Day unites party leaders to ceremonially bury what kind of tool?
Answer: Hatchet
38. What governor of Connecticut, elected in 2018, lost a 2006 U.S. Senate election to Joe Lieberman in 2006, despite beating Lieberman in the primary?
Answer: Ned Lamont
39. Led by Adam Price, Plaid Cymru is a political party committed to gaining independence for which UK member country?
Answer: Wales
40. Democratic candidates in the state of Minnesota compete in elections not on the "Democratic" party ticket but that of the DFL. The "D" in "DFL" stands for "Democrat," and the "F" and "L" stand for what two professional words?
Answer: Farmer, Labor
41. In the 1984 U.S. Democratic Primary, Walter Mondale criticized the depth of Gary Hart’s “New Ideas” platform by citing what Wendy’s slogan? Famously stated by Clara Peller in many commercials, it was a reference to how other burger chains don’t use enough meat.
Answer: Where's the beef?
42. The third and final of the "Reconstruction Amendments" in the U.S. prohibited the government from denying citizens the right to vote based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." What number amendment is this overall in the U.S.?
Answer: 15
43. Requiring 60 votes to proceed, what "C" word means a Senate procedure that limits further consideration of a pending proposal to 30 hours to avoid filibuster?
Answer: Cloture
44. What was the unsurprising surname of the 1915-born politician who became the first mayor of DC in more than a century after winning the District's 1974 mayoral election?
Answer: Walter Washington
45. Instant-runoff voting and single transferable vote are the two specific types of what more general voting system that is used in various jurisdictions in the United States? For example, Maine uses this voting system in all state primary, congressional, and presidential elections.
Answer: Ranked-choice voting
46. In 1984, Republican President Ronald Reagan defeated Democrat Walter Mondale by taking 49 states in the Electoral College. In 1972, Richard Nixon also took 49 states, losing only Massachusetts and the District of Columbia, against this Democratic opponent.
Answer: George McGovern
47. In 1997, David Wolf became the first American to vote from where? A Texas state law enabled him to do so.
Answer: Space
48. Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth became a double amputee after the helicopter she was piloting was attacked during the Iraq War. Prior to her election to the Senate, she served as an assistant secretary at what U.S. cabinet-level department focused on providing lifelong healthcare services to former members of the military?
Answer: United States Department of Veterans Affairs
49. This running mate of John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election hailed from what state, which John Kerry failed to carry in the Electoral College?
Answer: North Carolina
50. Adventurer Phileas Fogg is shocked by the kerfuffle over a San Francisco election for a justice of the peace that he encounters on his global travels in what Jules Verne novel?
Answer: Around the World in Eighty Days
51. On November 1, Israeli voters went to the polls for the fifth time in four years to elect members of what legislative body?
Answer: Knesset
52. What candidate, running on the American Independent Party ticket in 1968, was the last candidate in a U.S. presidential election to carry a state's electoral votes?
Answer: George Wallace
53. As a result of the U.S. census in 2020, some of the Electoral College vote allocations for each state changed for the 2024 presidential election. How many electoral votes was Alaska worth in 2024?
Answer: Three
54. Accusations of irregularities by the Organization of American States forced the resignation of Evo Morales after a 2019 election in what country, despite a ten percentage-point victory over his closest opponent?
Answer: Bolivia
55. With more than 400 million votes cast in 2009, what country—the world’s most populous democracy—holds the Guinness-certified world record for the most votes ever cast in a national general election?
Answer: India
56. In 2017, Emmanuel Macron was elected President of France as a candidate from what newly created party, whose name means "Forward?"
Answer: En Marche
57. The film “Election” brought voter fraud to the big screen when it depicted a teacher, played by Matthew Broderick, disposing of votes for what character, played by Reese Witherspoon?
Answer: Tracy Flick
58. Sarah Palin was mayor of which city, the fourth largest by population, before her election as the first female Governor of Alaska?
Answer: Wasilla
59. In January 2022, 80-year-old Sergio Mattarella was elected to serve a second seven-year term as president of what EU nation?
Answer: Italy
60. All the way back in 1800, the results of the U.S. presidential election were decided by a contingent election in the outgoing House of Representatives. What man ultimately won this election?
Answer: Thomas Jefferson
61. The American Anti-Corruption Act, or AACA, is legislation proposed in 2011 to curb the influence of money in politics by what former head of the U.S. Federal Election Commission and counsel to John McCain? His last name is the same as the harsh banker in “It’s A Wonderful Life.”
Answer: Trevor Potter
62. Raimonds Vejonis of Latvia (elected in 2015) and Alexander Van der Bellen of Austria (elected in 2016) are Europe's first heads of states representing parties with what colorful name?
Answer: Green Party
63. Since 1931, every United Kingdom General Election has taken place on what day of the week?
Answer: Thursday
64. What Irish republican and democratic socialist political party, led by Mary Lou McDonald, is the second-largest party in Northern Ireland while refusing to serve in seats it wins and won the largest share of votes in the 2020 Irish general election for the Dáil Eireann?
Answer: Sinn Fein
65. Who was the first African-American female major-party gubernatorial nominee in the United States, during the 2018 election?
Answer: Stacey Abrams
66. The 24th Amendment prohibited them. Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections ruled them unconstitutional. What two-word type of payment are we talking about?
Answer: Poll tax
67. What senator, first elected in the 1974 senatorial elections, is the only Democrat to ever be a senator from Vermont?
Answer: Patrick Leahy
68. The close results of the 1948 election created the unusual scenario in which Harry Truman won the election, but the Chicago Tribune speculated that what Republican governor of New York was victorious? A celebratory Truman held up this headline while celebrating his win.
Answer: Thomas Dewey
69. Following the country's famous 1940s coup d'état, Costa Rica wrote and passed a new Constitution, leading to the nation's first democratic elections under the new Constitution in what year?
Answer: 1953
70. The Nineteenth Amendment, which granted women the right to vote in the U.S., was passed more than 40 shameful years after the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled explicitly against early women suffragettes. Who was president when the Nineteenth Amendment passed?
Answer: Woodrow Wilson
71. The 1880 U.S. presidential election had the smallest popular vote margin in the nation's history with only 0.11% of voters separating James Garfield and Winfield Hancock. How many votes did this razor-thin margin represent?
Answer: 1898
72. In the 2020 election cycle, the Super PAC that raised the most money that also had the name of a former president in its name featured which president?
Answer: Abraham Lincoln
73. In 1848, Abraham Lincoln realized that his preferred candidate, Henry Clay, was unlikely to win the presidency. So, he instead supported what military general for the Whig nomination? This man eventually won the presidential election.
Answer: Zachary Taylor
74. In January 2021, what state held runoff elections to fill both of its U.S. Senate seats, with Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock winning?
Answer: Georgia
75. What New Mexico county voted for the winner of every U.S. presidential election from 1952 through 2016, the longest active of any county for years, but had its streak broken in 2020?
Answer: Valencia
76. The expression "hanging chad" gained notoriety during the 2000 U.S. presidential election, and they were the focus of a recount in which state?
Answer: Florida
77. Who is the only U.S. president to have been elected unanimously, receiving every electoral vote available to him?
Answer: George Washington (twice!)
78. A major factor in making the 2000 US Presidential Election so close, especially in Florida, was the Green Party campaign of what man, who rose to fame in the 1960s as a consumer advocate, author of “Unsafe At Any Speed?”
Answer: Ralph Nader
79. In the 1948 U.S. presidential election, Strom Thurmond won four southern states running under a party whose members were known as what “crats”? It’s a common nickname for the American South, perhaps derived from one of the surveyors of the Mason-Dixon line.
Answer: Dixie
80. Who was the American industrialist that made his millions in the 1800s from financing gas works before attempting four(!) times to essentially purchase a United States Senate seat in the state of Delaware? His battle with Henry du Pont for control of Delaware politics led in part to the Seventeenth Amendment in the U.S., which enabled direct election of senators.
Answer: J. Edward Addicks
81. The 2003 California gubernatorial recall election resulted in the replacement of Gray Davis with what star of "The Terminator" and "Total Recall?"
Answer: Arnold Schwarzenegger
82. What soldier and statesman, who served as vice president under James Madison, had previously finished 3rd in the 1792 U.S. presidential election, losing to George Washington? His first and last name are the same as the lead singer of Parliament Funkadelic.
Answer: George Clinton
83. President Joe Biden called what U.S. state's Election Integrity Act, which was signed into law in March 2021, "Jim Crow in the 21st century?"
Answer: Georgia
84. What “S” Irish political scientist worked for Dublin’s Economic and Social Research Institute, and regularly appeared on Irish television to analyze elections?
Answer: Richard Sinnott
85. "I Like Ike" was a popular campaign slogan in 1952 for what ultimately successful candidate for the U.S. Presidency?
Answer: Eisenhower
86. In the 1888 U.S. presidential election, Benjamin Harrison beat Grover Cleveland despite losing the popular vote, in large part thanks to winning two swing states, New York and what Hoosier state?
Answer: Indiana
87. If you can’t go to your local polling place on election day, which type of mail-in ballot can you request to make sure you can still cast your vote? You can sometimes use them to vote early, too.
Answer: Absentee
88. On June 6, 2022, what UK prime minister survived a vote of no confidence by his fellow Conservative party lawmakers, although his position was weakened by the vote?
Answer: Boris Johnson
89. During local elections, citizens of a community can vote on which issue that starts with B and concerns the money to be used to fund improvement projects like fixing roads?
Answer: Bonds
90. Which “ology” that starts with P refers to the study of election statistics mostly with the goal of predicting future outcomes?
Answer: Psephology
91. A contingent election, in which no candidate reaches a majority in the election and the president is decided by a special vote in the House, hasn't occurred in the U.S. since 1837. But it did occur in what HBO show in 2016, resulting in a reelection loss for Selina Meyer?
Answer: Veep
92. The release of white smoke, or fumata blanca, indicates that a new person has been elected by ballot to what position?
Answer: Pope
93. Statewide elections in Maine and Alaska use RCV, an alternative voting system in effect in over fifty jurisdictions nationwide. What does RCV stand for?
Answer: Ranked-Choice Voting
94. What powerful Maine senator and governor went on to become Hubert Humphrey's running mate in the 1968 presidential election?
Answer: Edmund Muskie
95. What majority means that a candidate has won more than half (50%) of all votes cast in an election?
Answer: Absolute
96. Which two manufacturers of voting machines filed defamation suits against Trump representatives Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani in the wake of the 2020 U.S. presidential election?
Answer: Dominion, Smartmatic
97. On January 8, 2023, supporters of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, upset at his defeat in the 2022 election, rioted and forced their way into the presidential palace of what South American nation?
Answer: Brazil
98. What party won an overwhelming 252 out of 400 seats in South Africa's 1994 elections, the first to be held since a ban on the party was lifted?
Answer: African National Congress
99. Which political theory suggests that a unified and usually wealthy minority holds the power in society and, therefore, in elections?
Answer: Elite theory
100. Chip Hipkins ran unopposed to win 2023's election to lead New Zealand's Labour Party, setting him up to replace what outgoing prime minister?
Answer: Jacinda Ardern
101. The "Box 13" scandal involved the finding of additional ballots after polls were closed in the 1948 Senate primary election, which gave Lyndon B. Johnson the Democratic nomination in what state?
Answer: Texas
102. What controversial U.S. representative was reelected from the state of Colorado in 2022 over challenger Adam Frisch by a margin of only around 500 votes?
Answer: Lauren Boebert
103. In California (as well as some other states), what "i" term refers to measures to enact legislation placed on the ballot directly by voters?
Answer: Initiative
104. Before losing the 2004 election, Joe Kernan was the last Democratic Governor of Indiana. Kernan took over after what two-term Governor died while in office?
Answer: Frank O'Bannon
105. A center in Atlanta, Georgia has a "Democracy Program" which, among other things, monitors elections around the world. What former president and his wife founded the center in 1982?
Answer: Jimmy Carter
106. Bola Tinubu, former governor of the state of Lagos, won a 2023 election to become president of what country?
Answer: Nigeria
107. Days after settling a defamation case with Dominion Voting Systems, Fox News abruptly dismissed what popular host, saying that his April 21, 2023 show would be his last?
Answer: Tucker Carlson
108. The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) is a bipartisan, independent commission that, among other important duties, develops guidance for compliance with election laws, and acts as a national clearinghouse for information about election administration. What act of Congress created the EAC?
Answer: Help America Vote Act
109. Named after an Australian psephologist, what is the name of the “pendulum” where all seats or districts are listed in order of margin at the last election, thus giving an indicative number of changing seats with particular change in the vote?
Answer: Mackerras pendulum
110. Voting in an election is which type of “duty” that you have in America, along with paying your taxes to the IRS and sitting on a jury if you’re called to?
Answer: Civic
111. Despite winning 60% of the vote in a 1990 election, Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD party was not recognized as the victor by the ruling junta of what country, which had Suu Kyi herself placed under house arrest?
Answer: Myanmar
112. What democratic practice, a meeting of supporters or party members, often for the purpose of an election, may come from an Algonquin word meaning "counsel?"
Answer: Caucus
113. What -pedia is a nonprofit website of local, state, and federal election info relied on by voters around the country, as well as news sources like the New York Times?
Answer: Ballot
114. What is the name of the far-right party of Marine Le Pen, who lost the French presidential runoff election to Emmanuel Macron in April 2022?
Answer: National Rally
115. Al Gore sought the Democratic nomination for U.S. president in 1988 as the junior senator from which state?
Answer: Tennessee
116. What is the word commonly found during election time which evolved from Latin words for "upon" and "lean on" or "lie down"? In electoral matters, the word is often simply abbreviated with the lowercase letter "i".
Answer: Incumbent
117. The contested 1876 election of which president marked the end of Reconstruction due to the backroom Compromise of 1877, which ensured which president's election and averted a constitutional crisis?
Answer: Rutherford B Hayes
118. What is the name of Justin Trudeau's progressive political party, which lost its absolute majority in the Canadian Parliament in the 2019 federal election?
Answer: Liberal Party
119. Governor Andy Beshear, an incumbent Democratic governor, ran for reelection in which U.S. state where Trump defeated Biden by a 25.9% margin in the 2020 presidential election?
Answer: Kentucky
120. New Zealand Prime Minister Robert Muldoon famously called a snap general election when drunk that he ended up losing. In which year did he do this?
Answer: 1984
121. In Turkish, Greek, and Middle Eastern cooking, a selection of hot and cold dishes, typically served as an hors d'oeuvre, is known by what four-letter name?
Answer: Meze
122. What was the most recent election year in which the state of Kentucky's Electoral College votes were awarded to the Democratic candidate?
Answer: 1996
123. The Independence Party has won the largest number of seats in the Althingi every election but one since the party's creation in 1929. The Althingi is the oldest parliamentary body in the world, having been founded in 930 CE in what European country?
Answer: Iceland
124. Several candidates for legislative council were disqualified because of their stance on independence during a controversial 2018 election in what world city?
Answer: Hong Kong
125. In the 1872 U.S. presidential election, what Democratic opponent to Ulysses S. Grant, known for the historic phrase "Go West, young man,” died prior to the Electoral College officially meeting to cast their votes?
Answer: Horace Greeley
126. What does the "H" stand for in H. Ross Perot, who ran unsuccessfully for President in 1992 and again in 1996 under third-party lines?
Answer: Henry
127. After losing 49 states in the 1984 presidential election and then a last-minute Minnesota Senate race in 2002, what man became the first and, so far, only person to lose a statewide election in every U.S. state?
Answer: Walter Mondale
128. A landmark moment in the history of electronic voting in U.S. elections was when the Reform Party used "I-Voting" (internet voting) to select their presidential candidate in 1996. Unsurprisingly, they selected what man who had founded the party one year prior?
Answer: Ross Perot
129. Kelly Loeffler lost her runoff election and her U.S. Senate seat in Georgia after a vote in 2021. Emblematic of her momentum, members of what Atlanta WNBA franchise, which she co-owned at the time, spoke out against her campaign? The moment felt very unreal.
Answer: Atlanta Dream
130. Scott Morrison won the 2019 Australian federal election with just over 50% of the vote. What was the official turnout percentage in the election?
Answer: 0.92
131. The first successful recall election in the United States was the 1911 recall of Hiram Gill from his position as the mayor of what western city?
Answer: Seattle, Washington
132. From the 13th century to its abolition in 1806, a group of prestigious "prince-electors" elected the ruler of what longstanding European political entity?
Answer: Holy Roman Empire
133. Winning the 1984 federal election in a landslide, Brian Mulroney served as the 18th prime minister of what country? Technically, Brian was his middle name, as he was born Martin Brian Mulroney.
Answer: Canada
134. Then-Prime Minister and Social Democratic Party leader Victor Ponta was accused of rigging a 2014 election in his favor in what southeastern European country?
Answer: Romania
135. What Harvard Law Class of 1983 graduate and Virginia senator did Hillary Clinton select as her running mate in the 2016 U.S. presidential election?
Answer: Tim Kaine
136. Andrew Jackson won the first U.S. presidential election in which more than one million votes were cast. Who won the first election in which more than one HUNDRED million votes were cast?
Answer: Bill Clinton
137. Charged with obstruction of Congress in 2019, Donald Trump became the first U.S. president since Bill Clinton to be impeached following a whistleblower’s accusation of President Trump contacting what Ukrainian president to indirectly interfere in the 2020 U.S. presidential election?
Answer: Volodymyr Zelensky
138. In 2020, what North Carolina incumbent senator defeated challenger Cal Cunningham in the most expensive Senate election in history up to that point?
Answer: Thom Tillis
139. Tiny Dixville Notch is known for being the first town in the United States to announce the winner of U.S. presidential elections. In what state is Dixville Notch located?
Answer: New Hampshire
140. Who was the first U.S. president to win an election after the 1920 ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, which gave women the same rights to vote as men in all 48 states?
Answer: Warren G. Harding
141. In the 1912 election, which presidential incumbent became the only major party (Democrat or Republican) candidate in the U.S. in the 20th century to finish third in both the electoral vote and popular vote?
Answer: Taft
142. In what decade did the 23rd amendment to the U.S. Constitution grant residents of Washington DC Electoral College representation in presidential elections?
Answer: 1960s
143. In 1988, George H.W. Bush became the first sitting Vice President to be elected President, winning 426 electoral votes, since which Vice President in 1836?
Answer: Martin Van Buren
144. The 1976 Republican National Convention saw the party’s presidential and vice presidential nomination of Gerald Ford and what Kansas senator for the year’s U.S. Presidential election?
Answer: Bob Dole
145. "Dewey Defeats Truman" was a headline that should not have been printed, as incumbent U.S. President Harry Truman defeated Governor Thomas Dewey of New York in the 1948 Presidential election. Which major-city newspaper ran this headline on November 3, 1948 and almost immediately regretted it?
Answer: Chicago Tribune
146. Although George Washington was unanimously elected President in the first ever election of 1788-89, what state was not part of the Electoral College for that election, since it did not establish how to choose its electors for the Electoral College by the deadline of January 7, 1789?
Answer: New York
147. In presidential elections, Washington DC receives three electoral votes due to what numbered constitutional amendment, ratified in 1961?
Answer: 23rd
148. What "T" 19th century governor of New York narrowly lost to Rutherford B. Hayes in the contested 1876 presidential election? A Democrat, it is believed his loss was negotiated in exchange for the end of Southern Reconstruction.
Answer: Samuel Tilden
149. What is the surname of the 1972 winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics whose impossibility theorem states that community-wide ranked preferences cannot be determined by converting individuals’ preferences from a fair ranked-voting electoral system?
Answer: Arrow
150. What name does Canada give to its 338 electoral districts, each one of which elects a member of parliament to the country's House of Commons?
Answer: Riding
151. The U.S. has its elections on Tuesdays, and the UK has its on Thursdays, but in most of Europe, South America, and Central America, elections are almost always held on what day of the week?
Answer: Sunday
152. On December 22, 2021, what African nation announced it would be unable to meet its December 24 target for national elections, causing the UN to express concern on behalf of its 2.8 million registered voters?
Answer: Libya
153. Which later-assassinated president was the only sitting member of the House of Representatives to be elected to the presidency?
Answer: James Garfield
154. Talk about a Big Mac! What man’s biography includes leading the Army of the Potomac against the Confederacy in 1862, losing to Abraham Lincoln in the election of 1864, and being elected Governor of New Jersey in 1877?
Answer: McClellan
155. Which U.S. state was the first to grant women the right to vote? When women were enfranchised, it was not yet a state but a territory. Suffrage came in 1869 and statehood in 1890.
Answer: Wyoming
156. What was the last name of the Ontarian woman with the first name Agnes who became the first woman elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1921 election?
Answer: Macphail
157. What year was the first presidential election under the U.S. Constitution? This election marked the beginning of George Washington's first term as President.
Answer: 1789
158. In the 2016 Presidential election, the state of Minnesota had the highest share of voter turnout (from the eligible voting population) of any of the 50 states. What was the % turnout in Minnesota?
Answer: 75%
159. What office in New York City is first in line to succeed the mayor? As of 2025, the post is held by Jumaane Williams. Former mayor Bill de Blasio held the post before his 2013 mayoral election.
Answer: Public Advocate
160. Led by Doug Logan, what Floridian firm used “kinematic markers” to audit ballots in Arizona’s Maricopa County from the 2020 U.S. presidential election starting in April 2021?
Answer: Cyber Ninjas
161. The 1892 Presidential election saw incumbent Republican President Benjamin Harrison face off against Democrat Grover Cleveland, and James P. Weaver, who was a member of what political party?
Answer: Populist
162. Fannie Lou Hamer was a voting rights activist who was a key local organizer of what two-word event in Mississippi during 1964? The event had the goal of increasing the share of African Americans in Mississippi who were registered to vote.
Answer: Freedom Summer
163. In what year did a constitutional amendment give residents of the District of Columbia electoral votes in presidential elections?
Answer: 1961
164. In the 1988 Vice Presidential debate, what VP candidate of Michael Dukakis infamously said, "Senator, I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy"?
Answer: Lloyd Bentsen
165. Which president won the only election in United States history in which the candidate with the most electoral votes actually lost?
Answer: John Quincy Adams
166. After a redistribution after the 2020 census, how many Electoral College votes did California get in the 2024 U.S. presidential election?
Answer: 54
167. One of the largest non-partisan Super PACs in the country during the 2020 election cycle, what is the name of the group led by military veterans that focuses on electing military veterans to office to create a more effective government?
Answer: With Honor Fund
168. During one of the most controversial elections in U.S. history, who was chosen by the House of Representatives (per the Constitution) as the 19th POTUS?
Answer: Rutherford B. Hayes
169. In parliamentary systems, what is a politician said to cross if they formally change their affiliation to a second party after being elected as a member of a first party?
Answer: The floor
170. The Costa Rican Civil War, which lasted 44 days, was instigated in part due to the allegedly fraudulent election of what man to the presidency?
Answer: Otilio Ulate
171. The controversial outcome of the 2007 presidential election between Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga in which African country prompted violence and civil unrest?
Answer: Kenya
172. What was the most recent U.S. presidential election in which the city of Richmond voted primarily for the Republican candidate?
Answer: 1972
173. What right-wing populist party, often represented in blue on electoral maps, took 83 seats in the Bundestag in the 2021 elections, making it Germany's largest opposition party?
Answer: AfD
174. Who campaigned as the Republican nominee (and went on to win) against Democratic nominee Winfield Scott Hancock during the 1880 presidential election?
Answer: James A. Garfield
175. In 1856, which two-word-named southern state became the last to do away with the rule that you had to own property to vote?
Answer: North Carolina
176. On April 11, 2021, incumbent Patrice Talon was re-elected as the president of what French-speaking West African nation?
Answer: Benin
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