An Electoral College is a process established in the Constitution as a compromise between election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualifed citizens. Each candidate running for President has a group of electors who people vote for when voting for the candidate of their choice. The candidate with the most electoral votes and popular votes is the new President. Although this is not a democratic process, we the people still need to keep it for various reason including, having swing states, the votes between bigger states and smaller states, and avoiding run-off elections.

Toss-up states, or swing states, mainly help the outcome of the election. Although they don't elect who becomes President, they are the ones who are more likely to really listen to the competing candidates and know who to vote for than careless voters who vote for no obvious reason or are told to. They are the most thoughtful voters, which could really help the U.S. pick a great President for the next 4 to even 8 years. The more votes from those who pay attention to the election, the better chance of having a great President.

Bigger states are important to the candidates in the election. A larger population would mean more votes, and more votes would avoid a tie between the candidates. For example, Florida is a larger state. In 2012, the popular vote was very close because Florida had more electoral votes. Wyoming, a smaller state, had only 3 electoral votes. In other words, larger states get more attention from presidential candidates than smaller states do.

The Electoral College avoids run-off elections, which is when no candidate recieves a majority of the votes cast. When there's a tie in votes, great pressure arises and the presidential election process is greatly complicated. The Electoral College avoids this problem, reduces the pressure and produces a clear winner.

The Electoral College may not be a democratic process and may turn off potential voters for a candidate who has no hope of carring their state, but is important in a variety of ways; including swing states, votes between big and small states, and avoiding run-off elections. Voters in presidential elections are people who want to express a political preference rather than people who think that a single vote that may decide an election.    