[Verginius Rufus]

Back in the 1950s Congress did a serious investigation of the pros and cons of the current electoral college system, and decided that it should be kept. Getting rid of it and going to a national popular vote would destroy the two-party system at the state level.

Of course the Founders did not anticipate the rise of political parties. They expected electors to vote for men they knew from their own state mostly (so they put in the provision that they had to vote for at least one person not from their own state) and that the House of Representatives would pick the winner in most elections. Of course that has only happened twice but it could happen again if a third-party candidate got enough electoral votes to keep anyone from getting a majority. George Wallace thought he could do that in 1968.

[Reily]

“...electors to vote for men they knew from their own state mostly (so they put in the provision that they had to vote for at least one person not from their own state) and that the House of Representatives would pick the winner in most elections ...”

They way it still should be!