Early in the nineteenth century, the political parties formalized their nomination process, entrusting the choice of nominee to their congressional caucuses. Soon though, concerns about representation and corruption began to undermine the legitimacy of the process. In 1824, in an effort to displace the congressional caucus process, state Democratic-Republican legislative caucuses in five different states nominated five different candidates for the party. The result was disastrous, with the five candidates splitting the Electoral College vote and triggering the contingent election process. In 1832, keenly aware of the need for a centralized process that would select one nominee for the party, the Democrats settled upon holding a national convention of delegates from the various states to select their nominee. The creation of the national party convention, however, did not democratize the process as much as reformers hoped. As the first national party conventions revealed, most of the delegates were state and local officeholders and prominent citizens. Ordinary voters still remained largely excluded from the process.