The US is the oldest continuously functioning democracy in the world
http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2014/Info/electoral-college.html
A similar electoral college was previously used by the Holy Roman Empire.
From the Middle Ages until 1792, leaders of the Holy Roman Empire were elected by a college of prince-electors from various German states
http://www.history.com/news/9-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-electoral-college
The founding fathers established the Electoral College in the Constitution as a compromise between election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens, but the term “electoral college” doesn't appear in the Constitution.
Article II of the Constitution and the 12th Amendment refer to “electors,” but not to the “electoral college.”
http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/faq.html#whyec
The electoral college is part of compromises made at the convention to satisfy the small states.
http://www.historycentral.com/elections/Electoralcollgewhy.html
Reference sources indicate that over the past 200 years, over 700 proposals have been introduced in Congress to reform or eliminate the Electoral College. There's been more proposals for Constitutional amendments on changing the Electoral College than on any other subject.
http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/faq.html#whyec
The reason that the Constitution calls for this extra layer, rather than just providing for the direct election of the president is that most of the nation’s founders were actually rather afraid of democracy. James Madison worried about what he called "factions," which he defined as groups of citizens who have a common interest in some proposal that would either violate the rights of other citizens or would harm the nation as a whole.
Madison’s fear – which Alexis de Tocqueville later dubbed "the tyranny of the majority" – was that a faction could grow to encompass more than 50% of the population, at which point it could "sacrifice to its ruling passion or interest both the public good and the rights of other citizens." Madison has a solution for tyranny of the majority: "A republic, by which I mean a government in which the scheme of representation takes place, opens a different prospect, and promises the cure for which we are seeking."
http://www.factcheck.org/2008/02/the-reason-for-the-electoral-college/
What problems were the framers of the Constitution hoping to solve with the Electoral College?
Their basic problem was that there was no obvious model of what a national republican executive would be.
The dominant models of executive power in the 18th century were monarchical, or perhaps a king ruling with a clique of ministers, as in Britain. Those were options the Americans had repudiated in 1776.
The most obvious alternative was to have the president elected by Congress. But the framers also wanted an executive who'd be both independent of Congress and a check upon it.
https://news.stanford.edu/2012/08/20/rakove-electoral-college-082012/
HOW IT WORKS
Electoral votes are allocated based on the Census
https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/allocation.html
The President isn't chosen by a nation-wide popular vote. The Electoral College vote totals determine the winner, not the statistical plurality or majority a candidate may have in the nation-wide popular vote totals. Electoral votes are awarded on the basis of the popular vote in each state.
http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/faq.html#whyec
The number of electors equals the number of lawmakers in Congress - 435 in the House of Representatives and 100 in the Senate, plus 3 for the DC
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-campaign-electoralcollege-factbox-idUSBRE8A11EO20121103
Most states require that all electoral votes go to the candidate who receives the majority in that state except for Maine and Nebraska that have a “district system” in which 2 at-large electors vote for the state’s popular majority and 1 elector votes for each congressional district’s popular majority
http://history.house.gov/Institution/Electoral-College/Electoral-College/
Under the system of the Electoral College each state had the same number of electoral votes as they have representative in Congress and no state could have less then 3
http://www.historycentral.com/elections/Electoralcollgewhy.html
Generally, each state’s Electors vote at their respective state capitols. Each state determines whether or not the voting's open to the public.
http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/faq.html#whyec
Under the 23rd Amendment of the Constitution, the District of Columbia's allocated 3 electors and treated like a state for purposes of the Electoral College. For this reason, in the following discussion, the word “state” also refers to the District of Columbia
http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/about.html
Members of Congress and federal employees are precluded from serving as electors
The manner of choosing electors is left to the states, although the Constitution stipulates that “no Senator or Representative or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the US, shall be appointed an Elector.”
http://www.history.com/news/9-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-electoral-college
The process for selecting Electors varies throughout the US. Generally, the political parties nominate Electors at their State party conventions or by a vote of the party’s central committee in each State. Each candidate will have their own unique slate of potential Electors as a result of this part of the selection process
http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/electors.html#selection
The Constitution has never bound electors to vote for specific candidates
https://mises.org/library/origins-electoral-college
After the presidential election, your governor prepares a “Certificate of Ascertainment” listing all of the candidates who ran for President in your state along with the names of their respective electors. The Certificate of Ascertainment also declares the winning presidential candidate in your state and shows which electors will represent your state at the meeting of the electors in December of the election year
http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/about.html
IF NO ONE GETS A MAJORITY OF ELECTORAL VOTES
If no candidate gets a majority of Electoral votes, the House of Representatives elects the President from the 3 Presidential candidates who received the most Electoral votes. Each state delegation has 1 vote. The Senate would elect the Vice President from the 2 Vice Presidential candidates with the most Electoral votes.
Each Senator would cast 1 vote for Vice President. If the House of Representatives fails to elect a President by Inauguration Day, the Vice-President Elect serves as acting President until the deadlock's resolved in the House
http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/faq.html#whyec
WHAT THE HELL'S A FAITHLESS ELECTOR?
A faithless elector's one who casts an electoral vote for someone other than the candidate they've pledged to elec.
On 157 occasions, electors have cast their votes for president or vice president in a different manner than that prescribed by the legislature of the state they represent
Of those, 71 votes were changed because the original candidate died before the elector was able to cast a vote
2 votes weren't cast at all when electors chose to abstain from casting their electoral vote for any candidate. The remaining 85 were changed by the elector's personal interest or perhaps by accident. Usually, the faithless electors act alone
There's laws to punish faithless electors in 24 states
https://votesmart.org/education/electoral-college#.V13CM6I1TfY
THIS IS WHY 3RD PARTIES ARE SCREWED OVER
An individual can run as a write-in candidate. In 35 states, a write-in candidate must file some paperwork in advance of the election. In 7 states, write-in voting for presidential candidates isn't permitted. The remaining states don't require write-in candidates to file paperwork in advance of the election
https://ballotpedia.org/Ballot_access_for_presidential_candidates
When Ralph Nader announced in February 2004 that he'd seek the presidential nomination, he was required to collect 1.5 million signatures in all states to appear on the ballot. Deadlines for those signatures begin as early as May 2004.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/politics-july-dec04-third_parties/
