25. The Electoral College Was Designed to Protect Small States
Many believe the Electoral College was created solely to protect small states in presidential elections. While this was partly true, the system’s origins are far more complicated. A major factor was the influence of slavery—the three-fifths compromise allowed Southern states to count enslaved people toward their population, increasing their electoral power. The Electoral College was a compromise shaped by competing interests: balancing power between large and small states, the North and South, and concerns about direct democracy. Its design reflects these layered, sometimes troubling motivations.
