Why is the Electoral College important?

In U.S. presidential elections, people vote in each state, and those votes determine which candidate wins that state’s electoral votes. The total number of electoral votes decides the winner of the presidency, not just the nationwide popular vote.

At the country’s founding, people disagreed on how to choose the president. Some wanted voters to decide directly, while others wanted Congress to pick. The Electoral College was created as a middle-ground solution between those two approaches.