Those that predicted Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney to have a landslide in the Electoral College were wrong. Incumbent President Barack Obama won the Electoral College with 332 votes compared to Romney’s 206, and Obama won the popular vote with 51 percent of the vote.

Throughout the entire campaign, the media and candidates hyped this election to be very close, but the results were anything but that. 

The Electoral College went to the man with the popular vote, but this has not always been the case.

One of the most recent elections that the popular vote and the Electoral College vote were divided between the two candidates for president was 2000. The candidates were Democratic Vice President Al Gore and Republican Governor George W. Bush.

Gore won the popular vote with 48.4 percent while Bush won the Electoral College with 271 votes. Bush won because he carried Florida by 537 votes after numerous recounts and a one-time decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Many pundits predicted that the 2012 election would end with a situation like 2000. That did not occur, but it could in future presidential elections.

One proposal that circumvents the Constitution is the National Vote Interstate Compact which would let states select electors for the Electoral College based on the national vote. 

The proposal has been passed by eight states and the District of Columbia, but would not go into effect until a combined total of state electoral votes is 270, the amount needed to win the White House. 

Currently there are only 132 combined electoral votes.

While the National Vote Interstate Compact needs states to change their own laws, other proposals require a Constitutional amendment to implement a national popular vote. 

These proposals would most likely fail because some states do not want to give up their power that they hold on presidential elections.

According to a Gallup poll conducted in 2011, 62 percent of Americans would want to switch from the Electoral College to a national vote. 

If it is the will of the people, then elected officials should listen to them and attempt to change the Constitution.

Despite people supporting a national vote it will most likely not become the law of the land. 

If it was to be proposed, the bill would most likely die in Congress.

Ultimately, the Electoral College will stay in place for the foreseeable future, but states can adopt the National Vote Interstate Compact to reflect the popular vote. Swing states should not determine who is president, the majority should.