The founders of our country and authors of our Constitution were some pretty sharp fellows. It took the writers about two years to come up with a document which withstands time, tides and technology as our national guide-book for over 230 years. Those revolutionary men in Philadelphia had plenty of examples NOT to follow when they penned the blueprints as a way for our republic to exist in the best possible way, not perfect, but better than most.

To make sure no royalty, kings or tyrants rose to power, the Electoral College was included in Article 2 of the Constitution. Another reason for the Electoral College is to make sure big states didn’t overpower small states when selecting a President – each state had a voice that was heard. Some even say another surreptitious motive for an Electoral College was to make it easier to count a smaller number of votes in a time when quill and ink tabulated the results.

Whatever the reasons, the Electoral College has worked well for almost 60 presidential elections, with confusion and conflict in only a few cases. In our nation’s history, only five candidates have won the majority of the national popular vote yet lost the election. They are; Andrew Jackson 1824, Samuel Tilden 1876, Grover Cleveland 1888, Al Gore 2000, and Hillary Clinton 2016.