B) The Electoral College was designed at a time when the framers of Essay

B) The Electoral College was designed at a time when the framers of the Constitution decided not to trust the common man in sele - Essay Example It is only used in presidential elections and appears to be used simply to increase the perceived margin of victory from the actual popular vote. Election reform supporters want to either eradicate the Electoral College system entirely and replace it with the direct popular vote or repair perceived defects in the present system. However, the Electoral College was put in place for a reason by the same minds who founded the nation. Maybe we should try to better understand their motives before scrapping the system. States with smaller populations argue that if the electoral system were eliminated candidates for president would have no motivation to advertise or campaign there. â€Å"Why visit a small state with a media market that reaches, say, 100,000 people, when a visit to a large state can put the candidate in touch with millions?† (Gregg, 2001). Those opposed to the Electoral College want a direct national election, contending that it would better represent the diversity of the country. A direct election system would create incentives for campaigns to spend time and money in small states. Candidates would collect votes for their effort even if they lost the state as a whole. Even more importantly, â€Å"the financial calculus of election campaigns in a direct-election system might help level the playing field between large and small states.