Your points are well taken good sir.

We live in a society where information can be accessed and passed freely, especially with the advent of computer technology. I can find out about local bills in Alaska if I access the proper files and the like. The problem is, no one seems willing to make the effort to actually get aware about these issues. For instance, in the example you mentioned Martyr, your friend probably could have gotten all the information he needed about the programs he was voting on but for whatever reason didn't and thus voted without really knowing why he voted.

When the Electoral College was first created, it was believed that your average citizen was not in the know enough to have final say on all the issues of the country. Many, many of the founding fathers were afraid of mob rule and rightly so because oftentimes, mobs are not informed but go by instinct and can be swayed into something that might be entirely false. Yet, today, according to recent studies done by USA Today, nearly 70% of the country owns a computer with internet access, yet only 50% votes when perhaps, all of the people who do have access to actual information can be in the know and make informed opinions but just don't. Mob rule doesn't have to apply any longer because your average citizen CAN be informed if they make the effort. Go to websites that are actually based in fact, .gov or .org sites and you can cut through the spin and see the heart and meat of an issue.

It boggles my mind that people have access to so much information but decide not to use it or at least allow it to help them make a decision or form an opinion.

Perhaps, it's not the electoral college that needs work so much as the mind of your average American.

Take care all.