The correct answer is C) less than 40 percent of the popular vote.
In 1860, the presidential election proved very close showing the division in the country. The winning candidate claimed less than 40 percent of the popular vote.
In the US presidential election of 1860, Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln defeated Sothern Democratic candidate John C. Breckenridge by 187-27 in the electoral vote. In the popular vote, Lincoln received 1,865,908 votes (39.8%). Breckenridge received 848,019 votes (18.1%).
The other two candidates were John Bell from the Constitutional Union Party and Stephen E. Douglass from the Northern Democratic Party.
