What Is the Electoral College? | Why It Matters

Learn the history behind the creation of the Electoral College, its role in the election of the president, and the reasons why it still exists today in this episode of Why It Matters, the history video series where the past is used to explain the present. Why It Matters host Malick Mercier interviews historian Dr. Alexander Keyssar about the creation of the Electoral College, a compromise crafted by the Framers of the Constitution in 1787 and the subject of controversy ever since. When Americans cast their vote for the president, it is in fact the Electoral College’s vote that officially elects the next president.