THOMAS'S MASSACHUSETTS SPY OR WORCESTER GAZETTE, Feb. 22, 1797

• John Adams presidential election
• Thomas Jefferson as vice president

Page 2 has a report from the "Proceedings of the Columbian Federal Congress" concerning the process for tallying votes for President & Vice President: "...that the two Houses shall assemble in the chamber of the House of Representatives on Wednesday next, at 12 o'clock, that two persons shall be appointed tellers...to make a list of votes...that the result shall be declared by the President of the Senate who shall announce the state of the votes & the persons elected...President and Vice President of the United States...".
Further on is the report from that Wednesday which gives the details of the process for counting the votes, and then reports: "...The President of the Senate then thus address the two Houses: ...There are 71 John Adams, 68 for Thomas Jefferson...I declare that JOHN ADAMS is elected President of the United States for four years, to commence on the 4th day of March next; and that THOMAS JEFFERSON is elected Vice President of the United States for four years..." with more.
This is one of the more detailed accounts of the announcement of a Presidential election I have seen.
Four pages, minor foxing, very nice condition.

Background: This historic issue of Thomas’s Massachusetts Spy from February 22, 1797, offers an exceptionally detailed primary-source account of the counting of the 1796 electoral votes—a critical constitutional milestone marking the first peaceful transfer of presidential power in United States history. Its rare historical value stems from recording the unique and highly unusual dual role of John Adams, who, as the sitting Vice President and President of the Senate, had the constitutional duty to open the certificates, tabulate the electoral votes alongside appointed tellers, and officially declare himself the winner of the presidency with 71 votes while announcing his fierce political rival, Thomas Jefferson, as the Vice President with 68 votes. Capturing the precise wording of the congressional proceedings and the exact declaration that set the precedent for early executive transitions, this four-page dispatch stands out as a remarkably vivid and scarce artifact of 18th-century American democracy in action.