Both Republican candidates, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, received 73 electoral votes. (See map: Courtesy of practicallyhistorical.net) The major reason was that the Federalist party had angered some Americans with the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts. Also, the 12th amendment had not yet been added to the Constitution, so a procedure for this situation had not yet been established. Therefore, after much politicking and being deadlocked for 7 days, the House of Representatives finally chose Thomas Jefferson as the 3rd president.
