The Electoral College system dates from late-18th century when Americas founders didnt trust direct voting by citizens. At the Philadelphia meeting in 1787 they made a deal - people would pick electors who then choose the president
The system has 538 electors (a number thats changed due to the latest population count). After 2020s count Texas got two more votes while states like California and New York lost one each. To win White House a candidate needs 270 electoral votes; its not about getting most peoples votes
Each state picks electors (party-loyal folks who dont usually go against their groups wishes) who meet in state buildings mid-december. Then on jan-6 the vice-president counts these votes in DC. Before 2021 this was just a boring meeting but then some stuff happened - if Mike Pence hadnt done his job that day things couldnt gone very different
This set-up means sometimes weird things happen: like when Donald Trump became president even though Hillary Clinton got more votes about 8 years ago. Actually this happened 5 times in US history:
- In 1800 (the first time)
- During 1824s election
- Back in 1876
- The bush-gore race in 2000
- That trump-clinton match in 2016
People tried fixing this system like 700 times (no joke). Even Alexander Hamilton who helped make it wanted changes. Last big try was in late-60s: the house said yes but senate said no (they needed more votes)