Most folks in the United States don't understand it either because the historical context needed to interpret the reason for it isn't taught and hasn't been for generations.
Before the USA "grew up" there were two competing visions as to what the place would look like, one championed by Thomas Jefferson and the other by Alexander Hamilton. Jefferson envisioned an agrarian nation and Hamilton one that was based on commerce and trade. These existed side by side for a while with the EC intended to ensure some equality between the two if things got out of hand. Well things eventually got out of hand, and in a little kerfuffle we had in the 1860s the Hamiltonian model whupped the Jeffersonian model -- but nobody did anything about the Electoral College, even though they should have at the time.
Wind the clock forward by more than a century and nobody knows how the thing got there, only that is it, and it's enshrined -- usually by the loser of the popular vote who then winds up as Supreme Exalted Leader against the will of The People. Go figure.
Not so fast. As we see in modern times, the actual decisions are made a long time in advance of the election by gating the candidates that are allowed to run. No matter who you vote for, the oligarchs win.Simply vote for a nominee President ,one person, one vote - the one getting the most votes wins. Simples.
Things have not improved.