If in the US instead of a president, all you could elect was party functionaries to an institution with the explicit purpose of being between the voters and the

If in the US instead of a president, all you could elect was party functionaries to an institution with the explicit purpose of being between the voters and the decision and they then voted somebody in as president against the popular vote, would you call that democratic? Because that's what happened in 2016 and many times before that. Glass House, stones, etc.