Lets get rid of primary elections when electing our president

[RoadRunner79]

This is why we have an electoral college.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_America

...and in most states aren't the electoral votes awarded to the winner on a state by state popular vote?

Some states have laws where the electoral representative must vote for the majority vote of the state.   Others allow for faithless voters, where they can go against the popular vote.   However my understanding is that the representative is chosen by the vote, so if the candidate for party X wins, then it is their party's rep who gets the vote.   Some states can fine or penalize a faithless voter.

It didn't make a difference, but I did find out, that this election actually had the most number of faithless voters.  5 for Clinton and 2 for Trump.  I'm not sure, but I guess that this was more of a protest, once they realized that their vote wouldn't make a difference and in all 7 cases, they voted independent.

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... That doesn't explain anything, it just shows what we already know: most counties in the US aren't 100% red or 100% blue but somewhere in the middle.

Among the actual reasons we have an electoral college and not a direct democracy are:

- to provide a constitutional limitation on direct democracy whereby "factions" of citizen could grow large enough that they could “sacrifice to its ruling passion or interest both the public good and the rights of other citizens.” (James Madison) which is where we get the idea of the "tyranny of the majority."

- to ensure “that the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications.” (Alexander Hamilton) (A lot of good this one did)

- because the founders didn't trust that the population of a geographically large country would be able to be well enough informed about presidential candidates to make intelligent decisions when casting their votes

- because a direct democracy would not be acceptable to the slave-owning south where the population of eligible voters was much less than in the north.  Having an electoral college meant that they could enact the 3/5th rule for southern slaves and give the south an electoral college boost and enhancing their power in the vote.  Ah, racism rears it ugly head again.

There was a lot of close ballots in this election.   Even California surprised me, in their numbers for Trump.  

And I agree with your comment about the south and eligible voters.   That the point is to boost the say of those in lower population areas, where they me be drown out by the larger metropolis areas.   Which I think is good.  It is their President too.  I disagree however, with your trying to make it as if racism is a reason for the electoral college.