text: In addition to feeling like your vote matters, people never know if the electors would flip their desicions.  The slate of electors is not picked by the people.  It is said in, "The Indefensible Electoral College: Why even the best-laid jdefenses of the system are wrong", that sometimes the state conventions, the party's central committee, or the presidential candidates themselves choose who will be their electors.  That being said, you don't know whether or not the electors will follow your choice of president or not.  For example, in 1960, some electors refused to vote for their party's candidate and they chose whomever they wanted. If we were to switch the way things are now, that would not happen.  A poll taken in 2000 called the Gallup poll, showed that over 60% of voters prefered a direct election rather then the kind we have now.  This took place when Al Gore recieved the popular vote, but lost the electoral votes.  You can see that the current system has its flaws.