xxxxxxx of the United States Constitution, as modified by Amendment XII (1805), states that the President of the United States of American shall be elected by members of an Electoral College, proportionally assigned according to population at last Census.

It is sometimes asserted that Presidential election by majority vote would result in candidates of the major political parties ignoring the small states, with few votes in th Electoral College and concentrating on the other states with more votes.

Actually, historians tell us that "The Founding Fathers" hoped that America would not develop political parties. So, apparently, this was not their motive in establishing The Electoral College. But I submit that this has been the effect. And as such, it is the 19th Century equivalent of what became known in the 20th Century as "proportional representation".

Proportional representation requires that distribution of offices be proportional to the distribution of the popular vote among competing political parties or candidates. Its purpose is to overcome distribution imbalances resulting from majority and plurality formulas, creating a representative body reflective of the distribution of opinion within the electorate.

Although somewhat successful in other countries, it has met great opposition from the major American political parties, since it interferes with their "winner-take-all" strategy in electioneering.