Electoral College Reform

Facts:

1. The electoral college votes are malaportioned.
2. Each state gets two electoral votes regardless of the the state population.
3. Gore won the popular vote in 2000.
4. 2% of all the ballots cast were not counted as votes in 2000. 
5. Democratic voters are more likely than Republican ones to spoil their ballots.
6. The two party system doomed the electoral college to pick the best person to be president
7. Gore and Bush had a 0.5 vote margin difference.
8. Gores popular vote margin in New York was one million votes.
9. In the absence of the majority Stephen Douglas would have one the presidential election defeating Lincoln. 
10. The individual citizen has no federal constitutional right to vote for electors for President of the United States unless and until the state legislature chooses a statewide election as the means to implement its power to appoint members of the Electoral College. 

Questions:

1. Was it obvious that Gore won the popular vote in 2000?
2. What is the ideal voting system?
3. Is a direct democracy a better system than indirect?
4. Why is the electoral college used?
5. Why is the electoral college malaportioned instead of population porportional?