Why was the Electoral College created?

Corruption during the Gilded Age of politics led to a distortion of the political process and a need to restore balance to the presidential elections.

The Election of 1800 created conflict when there was no clear winner, leading to an amendment to the Constitution and the creation of the Electoral College.

Constitutional delegates feared that citizens might not be sufficiently informed to elect the president, since literacy rates were low and communication was slow.

The Electoral College was created to provide balance to the presidential elections when it became too cumbersome for states to calculate their exact populations.

The Electoral College was created when communication was slow and literacy rates were not high. Many eligible voters were not as well informed as they are today. James Madison and others believed that this method of electing a president would prevent factions or special interests from taking over the election. Each state is assigned a certain number of electors according to its population. A state gets as many electoral votes as it has senators and representatives.