What are the advantges of the electoral college?

Answer 1

The electoral college simplifies the election map for presidential candidates. The candidates need only look at the electoral value of each state instead of the states' actual populations.

With the laws in most states a candidate does not have to win overwhelmingly in the state's population to get all of that state's votes, but only a majority. This means that states where the candidate polls well ahead or hopelessly behind can be ignored scene those electoral votes are secured and impossible to get. This means that the candidates can concentrate most of their money and campaigning in what are known as battleground states. These states are states where candidates are polling about even and can those swing the election by campaigning there.

Of the 50 states (plus DC) there are only about 18 battleground states, and of those states only 4 of them get more than 50% of the candidates attention and money.

So the advantage is that presidential candidates only have to concentrate their effort in a few key states and can ignore most of the rest of the country.