In addition, there’s the fact that most of the Southern States couldn’t vote at the time. It was basically unthinkable that he could have lost the elections. Democratic and dictatorial aren’t natural types, but I’d say Lincoln is at least as far in the dictatorial direction as Putin, Nazarbayev, or almost any other basically sane ex-Soviet leader.
In addition, there’s the fact that most of the Southern States couldn’t vote at the time. It was basically unthinkable that he could have lost the elections. Democratic and dictatorial aren’t natural types, but I’d say Lincoln is at least as far in the dictatorial direction as Putin, Nazarbayev, or almost any other basically sane ex-Soviet leader.