I'm sure there is a way to do this but one of the issues is making this case specific.
ex.
<li><a href = "#" class = "dropdown-item" id = "subOneSel"><?php echo $data_txt ?></a>
<ul class = "dropdown-menu dropdown-submenu" id = "firstSub">
<li><input class = "dropdown-item menu--btn" type ="button" name = "elect_dates[]" value="1979"></input></li>
<li><input class = "dropdown-item menu--btn" type="button" name = "elect_dates[]" value="1980"></input></li>
<li><input class = "dropdown-item menu--btn"type="button" name = "elect_dates[]" value="1981"></input></li>
<li><input class = "dropdown-item menu--btn" type="button" name = "elect_dates[]" value="1982"></input></li>
<li><input class = "dropdown-item menu--btn" type="button" name = "elect_dates[]" value="1983"></input></li>
<li><input class = "dropdown-item menu--btn" type="button" name = "elect_dates[]" value="1984"></input></li>
<li><input class = "dropdown-item menu--btn" type="button" name = "elect_dates[]" value="1985"></input></li>
<li><input class = "dropdown-item menu--btn" type="button" name = "elect_dates[]" value="1986"></input></li>
<li><input class = "dropdown-item menu--btn" type="button" name = "elect_dates[]" value="1987"></input></li>
<li><input class = "dropdown-item menu--btn" type="button" name = "elect_dates[]" value="1988"></input></li>
<li><input class = "dropdown-item menu--btn" type="button" name = "elect_dates[]" value="1989"></input></li>
<li><input class = "dropdown-item menu--btn" type="button" name = "elect_dates[]" value="1990"></input></li>
<li><input class = "dropdown-item menu--btn" type="button" name = "elect_dates[]" value="1991"></input></li>
a small portion of my code p.s I know I should have used a for loop for the inputs but I was rushing.