No, that is not true. It was done because there was no technology to be able to accurately count each and EVERY vote. So they had a representative that would cast the votes for the state.
Now that we are able to accurately count votes and have the technology to share that information across the nation there is no need for the Electoral College.
The "highly liberal states" are the important states, the less populated states do not mean diddly to hopefulls.
On that note I do not think we should have a computerized voting system UNLESS the system produces a hard card showing the vote. Too easily comprimised
There was this guy...Alexander Hamilton. Maybe you heard of him?
(Pasted from from historycentral.com)
The Electoral College was created for two reasons. The first purpose was to create a buffer between population and the selection of a President. The second as part of the structure of the government that gave extra power to the smaller states.
The first reason that the founders created the Electoral College is hard to understand today. The founding fathers were afraid of direct election to the Presidency. They feared a tyrant could manipulate public opinion and come to power. Hamilton wrote in the Federalist Papers:
It was equally desirable, that the immediate election should be made by men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station, and acting under circumstances favorable to deliberation, and to a judicious combination of all the reasons and inducements which were proper to govern their choice. A small number of persons, selected by their fellow-citizens from the general mass, will be most likely to possess the information and discernment requisite to such complicated investigations. It was also peculiarly desirable to afford as little opportunity as possible to tumult and disorder. This evil was not least to be dreaded in the election of a magistrate, who was to have so important an agency in the administration of the government as the President of the United States. But the precautions which have been so happily concerted in the system under consideration, promise an effectual security against this mischief.
(See All of the Federalist 68)
Hamilton and the other founders believed that the electors would be able to insure that only a qualified person becomes President. They believed that with the Electoral College no one would be able to manipulate the citizenry. It would act as check on an electorate that might be duped.
Hamilton and the other founders did not trust the population to make the right choice. The founders also believed that the Electoral College had the advantage of being a group that met only once and thus could not be manipulated over time by foreign governments or others.
________________________________________________________________
Additionally, the greatest debates and dialog over the role of government were between Hamilton and James Madison. Hamilton and Madison disagreed bitterly over the role of the Federal Government but both warned in various essays and personal letters about the "...the vagaries of the opinions of men." and how it is "...easily inflamed".
Our country's founders were highly educated in history, politics and philosophy. The foundations of the system of government they devised, i.e. representative democracy, were anchored in a profound understanding of the successes and failures of those who came before them.
We don't have a direct democracy because they understood that direct democracies ultimately tear themselves apart. Technology didn't have sh!t to do with it.
Final thought every thinking American owes it to themselves to read the Federalist Papers. They are key to understanding how our country came to be.
They are not fun. In fact they are dry and text-bookish. The language is flowery as this was the style of the day, so it's a bit hard to follow sometimes but there are plenty of companion guides that explain them in plain English.
