The Electoral College was created in 1787 by the framers of the U.S. Constitution during the Constitutional Convention. It was devised as a compromise between electing the president by popular vote and election by Congress, with the intention to balance the influence of large and small states and to safeguard against undue influence by small groups.
The system was formalized in Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution. The original plan was agreed upon on September 4, 1787, and it has been used since the first presidential elections. The Electoral College has undergone some changes, most notably with the 12th Amendment in 1804, but its fundamental structure remains based on the original 1787 design.
Thus, the Electoral College was created in 1787 as part of the founding framework of the U.S. government.
