Donald Trump has been elected President of the United States. Not through popular will, but through the electoral college was his election made possible.

The Electoral College is defined as, “a body of people representing the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president.”

It is simply a system of delegates pledged to a candidate based on their performance in the state elections.

It comes from the constitutional convention in 1787. It was designed to give smaller states more leverage, keep the presidency independent of congress, and prevent political manipulation.

It is very similar to the system used during the primaries to determine which candidate will go on to receive the nomination for their party, which was ironically praised by the democrats for making Hillary Clinton the nominee for the Democratic Party but bashed by them now that it elected Trump.

The Electoral College, while not perfect, gives each state a bigger voice in the elections.

If the election was determined by popular vote, states like California and New York would stomp out states like Nebraska and Louisiana.

The needs and wants of Californians are very different than those of Nebraskans, so a system based on popular vote fits the needs of one state while suppressing the other.

If you go even deeper, state elections are decided by the cities.

New York City would swing elections whichever way it voted, considering how close most elections are. Clinton won the national popular vote by 1,322,095 votes, in New York

The majority of the states wanted Trump and the electoral college gave them a greater voice in picking their candidate.

While Trump has said horrible things and I don’t agree with everything he says and does, I’m rather pleased with the results of the election.

I believe our country was on its way down the wrong path, with racial and gender tensions on the rise and leadership on both sides that refused to do or even say anything about it.

As a potential candidate for the draft/military, I did not feel comfortable with Hillary’s positions on the Syrian Civil War, among many other things. I refuse to fight in a war I don’t agree with.

I do however support Trump’s stance on ISIS, and I would voluntarily sign up for the military if he followed through on his promise.

Overall, I believe the electoral college is a very crucial part of protecting states’ rights. Protecting the rights of the states gives each citizen a larger voice in the government.