Electoral College Reform

Facts/Details:it
1. The two main criticisms of the electoral college are that it is undemocratic and it is an unreliable device for selecting the President
2. Each state gets atleast two electoral votes, regardless of population.
3. Democratic voters are more likely than Republicans to mess up their ballot.
4. The framers of the Constitution did not forsee political parties.
5. The difference between Gore and Bush's popular votes was only 0.5 percent.
6. Reform to the electoral college would increase the liklihood of deadlocks.
7. There is no serious political movement to abolish the electoral college.
8. The point of having the electoral college is so that people with more political knowledge can make decisions over the average American.
9. Members of congress are like "president-pickers".
10. Before the 2000 election, 1976 was the last year the popular vote was so close.

Questions:
1. Why were 2 percent of the ballots cast not counted?
2. Didn't Madison warn of factions within government, which is kind of similar to parties?
3. Could a direct democracy actually work?
4. Have any groups made real attempts to reform the electoral college?
5. Is there a way to reform the electoral college that would work better?