The framers of the Constitution didn't envision elections or political parties in choosing a president. The original plan was for state legislatures to direct a manner (which might vary from state to state) in which electors would be chosen. Those electors, anticipated to be impartial, wise men who understood matters of state, would then elect the president. It was foreseen that, probably more often than not, the electors wouldn't be able to choose a president first time around, at which time the House would elect the president and the Senate would elect the vice president. That is a streamlined version of how it was supposed to work, but the basics are there. Popular vote didn't even enter into it. Why did we give this up?