Should the Electoral college be modified or abolished ?

To consider this in an intelligent way consider how many people actually vote in an election in each state . . . a very complicated consideration. Take a look at the gov't stats if you really want to see how complicated it gets. How about the national voter turn out history in the past 40 years? Directly from the government records the best we have had in the past 40 years is 63 percent in 2000 of registered voters and 63 percent of voting age turnout in 1960. Do we live in a Democracy? Does the constitution specify that we live in a "direct democracy". No. We live in a representative democracy, a "republic". These two words are almost interchangeable. Do not confuse republic with "republicans" or the republican party. They are completely different. Today the republican party is probably closer to a hegemonic oligarchy run by aristocrats that it is to a republic. The same may also be true of the democratic party. Do not confuse it with "democracy". The electoral college was intended to prevent tyranny of mob_like rule caused by an ill informed perhaps uneducated public. At the time of the writing of the constitution this was a very real concern and still is, as long as the public remains ill-infomed and uneducated, or mis-informed. The news media can be guilty of mis-information either for financial gains or because of inept reporting, and this could cause people to vote in a very unresponsible way. But how many people actually vote? At best 63 percent. at worst 36 percent (in 1990). This constitutes the tyranny of the minority, precisely what most people want to avoid? Can the electoral college help this ?
If people are not voting because they feel like their vote does not count then the electoral college is adding to the problem by its very existence. My sources here:

http://mwhodges.home.att.net/voting.htm#trend (voter turnout)
http://www.eac.gov/election_resources/htmlto5.htm (government records of turnout)
http://www.eac.gov/election_survey_2004/statedata/StateLevelSummary.htm (gov't records 2004)
http://elections.gmu.edu/turnout_rates_graph.htm (Dr. Michael McDonald)
http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul226.html ("hands off the electoral college")
http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/faq.html#history (reasons for electoral college)


More later. . .