The New York Times has this article about the 1855 race for Speaker of the U.S. House. In the print edition it is titled “How Once-in-a-Century Chaos Could Hit the Vote for Speaker.” It describes how, in 1855-1856, the race for Speaker took two months to resolve.

But the article omits the reason. After the 1854 election, no party was even close to having a majority in the U.S. House. The new Republican Party had the most seats; Democrats were second; and the American “Know-Nothing” Party was third. When the house finally chose a speaker, Nathaniel P. Banks of Massachusetts, the Speaker was a member of the third biggest party, the Know-Nothings. It was actually easier for the House to choose someone from that party, because Democrats couldn’t abide having a Republican speaker, and vice versa.

The New York Times article has not one word about the partisan split back then.

Afroman, an Ohio rapper whose name was formerly Joseph Foreman, has said he intends to be an independent presidential candidate in 2024. See this story. Thanks to Mark Elworth for this news.

On Friday, December 23, Congress passed S4573, the Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022. The Senate had passed it on December 22 by a vote of 68-29, and the House passed it the next day by 225-201.

This is the first federal election law bill to pass since 2002, when the Help America Vote Act was passed, outlawing punchcard ballots and mechanical voting machines. The 2022 bill makes it virtually impossible for state legislatures to ever take away the right to vote from ordinary voters, in presidential elections. The January 1, 2023 print edition of Ballot Access News will have more details.