What is the primary purpose of the Electoral College?

The primary purpose of the Electoral College is to formally elect the President and Vice President of the United States. Established by the Constitution, this system was designed to create a compromise between electing the president by a vote in Congress and by popular vote. Each state is allocated a number of electors based on its representation in Congress, and these electors cast votes that ultimately determine the winner of the presidential election.

This mechanism ensures that a candidate must gain a majority of electoral votes to win the presidency, reflecting both the federal structure of the government and the principle of representative democracy. By using the Electoral College, the Founding Fathers aimed to balance the influence of populous states against less populous ones, thereby ensuring that all regions of the country have a voice in the election of the nation's leaders.

This context clarifies why the other options do not fulfill the primary purpose of the Electoral College, as they pertain to aspects of the electoral process that do not directly involve the formal election of the President and Vice President.