<P> There have been five United States presidential elections in which the winner lost the popular vote including the 1824 election, which was the first U.S. presidential election where the popular vote was recorded . Losing the popular vote means securing less of the national popular vote than the person who received either a majority or a plurality of the vote . </P> <P> In the U.S. presidential election system, instead of the nationwide popular vote determining the outcome of the election, the President of the United States is determined by votes cast by electors of the Electoral College . Alternatively, if no candidate receives an absolute majority of electoral votes, the election is determined by the House of Representatives . These procedures are governed by the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution . </P>

How many times in us history has the popular vote lost