Darrell M. West Explains the History of the Electoral College and Why It Should Be Abolished

EL Civics and ESL: Constitution of the United States
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"What kind of democracy elects the loser of the popular vote as its leader?  The framers of the Constitution set up the E.C. for different reasons. The Constitutional Convention was made of arge & small states -- which worried that states such as Mass., N.Y., Penn., and Va. would dominate the presidency so they devised an institution where each state had E.C. votes in proportion to the number of its senators and House members. The former advantaged small states --each state had two senators regardless of its size; the latter aided large states because the number of House members was based on the state’s population.  The compromise established the E.C.  chosen by the states with the power to choose the president. Also, at a time when many people were not well-educated, they wanted a body of wise men who would deliberate over leading contenders and choose the best man for the presidency."