Our founders designed it as a balance for the popular vote and they did all with much deliberation, prayer and purpose

#1 Engaged Elections

Actually, the founders thought that a national popular vote would be best, but compromised on an electoral college in order to cater to slave states.

James Madison, 1787:

Certain it was that the appointment would be attended with intrigues and contentions that ought not to be unnecessarily admitted. He was disposed for these reasons to refer the appointment to some other source. The people at large [national popular vote] was in his opinion the fittest in itself. It would be as likely as any that could be devised to produce an Executive Magistrate of distinguished Character. The people generally could only know & vote for some Citizen whose merits had rendered him an object of general attention & esteem. There was one difficulty however of a serious nature attending an immediate choice by the people. The right of suffrage was much more diffusive in the Northern than the Southern States; and the latter could have no influence in the election on the score of the NegroesRead more. The substitution of electors [electoral college] obviated this difficulty and seemed on the whole to be liable to fewest objections.