Georgia's Certification of Vote in the 1789 Election

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Description

When a person votes for a Presidential and Vice Presidential candidate in the popular election, they’re actually voting for the slate of electors representing their choice for President and Vice President. Those electors meet in their state and vote. They record their votes on Certificates of Vote like this one.

They send their state’s electoral votes to the President of the United States Senate. Then Congress counts the electoral votes in a joint session of Congress and announces the winner.

This Certificate of Vote from Georgia shows that George Washington received five votes; John Milton received two votes; and James Armstrong, Edward Telfair, and Benjamin Lincoln each received one vote. Washington was elected President and John Adams Vice President in the 1789 election.

Transcript

We the underwritten, Electors duly appointed on the part of the State of Georgia agreeably to the first section of the second Article of the Federal Constitution and the Act of the United States in Congress assembled of the thirteenth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty eight having assembled and voted, and after comparing the ballots Do Certify that the votes for President of the United States are as follows, [illegible]

General George Washington of Virginia five votes.
John Milton, esquire of Georgia, two votes.
James Armstrong, esquire of Georgia one vote.
Edward Telfair, esquire of Georgia one vote. – and –
General Benjamin Lincoln of Massachusetts, one Vote

In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names in the presence of each other, at Augusta, in the

said state of Georgia, this first Wednesday in February being the fourth day of the said Month in this year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eight-nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the thirteenth.

Geo. Handley
Geo Walton
John King
Jn. Milton
[illegible initial] Osborne

Citation

This primary source comes from the Records of the U.S. Senate.

National Archives Identifier: 306215

Full Citation: List of the votes for President by the electors of Georgia; 2/4/1789; Credentials, 1789 – 1998; Records of the U.S. Senate, Record Group 46; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. [Online Version, https://docsteach.org/document/georgia-vote-1789/, April 6, 2026]

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