Why aren't US Presidents voted in by the popular vote?

Electing Presidents by a national popular vote seems appealing at first glance, but the founders had good reason for rejecting it. Those reasons hold true today too. If the popular vote decided the Presidency, a few large states would dominate Presidential politics. read more

Exactly: in the most populated states. North and South Dakota, Alaska, Montana and a bunch of other states’ needs would be completely unregarded and the President of the United States wouldn’t be the Presidents of ALL the people, but just of some people and I doubt it that the States would remain United for long. read more

The problem is complicated, because the office of the President of the United States combines, in one person, the roles of Head of State and Head of Government. read more

Losing the popular vote means securing less of the national popular vote than the person who received either a majority or a plurality of the vote. In the U.S. presidential election system, instead of the nationwide popular vote determining the outcome of the election, the President of the United States is determined by votes cast by electors of the Electoral College. read more