Alright, well, I'm probably going to show my midwest US public school slacker ignorance here, but it was my understanding that the electoral college was implemented because the country was already large and communication was by horse or rail. Hypothetically if one of the candidates murdered someone right before the election people far away might not hear about it for months, so a delegate was granted the power to say "You know what? In light of recent events, I feel confident that most people in my state would prefer the other guy"