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A commission appointed by an Act of Congress, January 29, 1877, to investigate certain charges of fraudulent return of electoral votes from Florida, Louisiana, Oregon and South Carolina, during the Presidential election of 1876. Hayes and Tilden were the respective Republican and Democratic candidates for that term. The commission numbered fifteen: three Republican Senators, two Democratic Senators, three Democratic Representatives, two Republican Representatives, and five Associate Justices of the Supreme Court. Bradley, the fifth Justice selected, had the casting vote. February 9, the commission sustained the validity of the Hayes electoral ticket in Florida, and later gave similar decisions regarding the other States. The appointment of a commission of this sort was hitherto an unheard-of step and has by some been deemed unconstitutional.