The Electoral College was designed to provide a method of presidential selection for a form of government that combined a ?fragile federal union with republican principles? (Congressional Quarterly Inc.). This was a time of considerable rivalry and distrust among the states, a lack of a national communication system, and bad memories of abuse of executive power. The Electoral College was the result of a compromise between large and small states and the nationalists and federalists. This plan was brought about to ensure that the most qualified person, not necessarily the most popular, would be selected by groups of electors, representing their states but also expressing their personal convictions.

However, the development of the party system, which led to the direct election of states of partisan electors, permanently altered the original plan and created a party-based, plurality-rule system in which electoral votes were allocated by states on a winner-take-all basis. The major consequences of such

Most people believe that the only way to change the voting system is to pass an amendment to the constitution. There are thirty-nine smaller states in the US. These states hold a majority in the senate, and also hold a majority in the ratifying of the constitution. The Electoral College gives the proportional advantage to the smaller states. Thus, it would be near impossible to pass an amendment to take away power from the smaller states and give that power to a direct popular election, but this is not the only way to change the Electoral College system.

The Electoral College stands in the way of a democratic presidential election. In a democracy, all votes are equal, but in the Electoral College all voters are not equally represented. In a democracy, the plurality rules, but in the Electoral College it may not. The larger the turnout the greater the directive, and the more likely elected officials will be responsive to a broader diversity of electorate. Not only does the Electoral College lack turnout incentives for the less competitive states, but also confuses the president?s electoral voting body and makes its conversion into a governing coalition that much more difficult. Finally, if the Electoral College was to deadlock, and no presidential candidate held a majority, then the election would pass to the House of Representa

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