A two-part series on electoral systems and reform movements

How representative is our democracy? Coming out of the historic 2020 election, many people are examining the United States' electoral system more closely than ever, leading us to consider whether our present systems for voting and electing public servants are truly representative of the will of the people. 

The Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education partnered with our friends at the League of Women Voters of Jefferson County to host a two-part series exploring the history of our current national election framework, the Electoral College, and illuminating reform efforts to make our voting procedures more representative, including ranked choice voting. 

You can view these programs below as well as resources for more information about the Electoral College and ranked choice voting.

Part I: The Electoral College 

Information about the Electoral College

Our Speakers

Neal Barkus is a native West Virginian, having grown up in Charleston. He holds a B.A from University of Virginia and a J.D. from Washington & Lee School of Law. He practiced in Richmond and Washington, D.C. for 34 years before moving to the Eastern Panhandle.  He has served in leadership positions in many nonprofits, including the United Way of the National Capitol Area, Friends of Music, Inc. and Shenandoah Horse Park, Inc. Neal is a member of the League of Women Voters of Jefferson County. He writes a blog called Panhandle Progressive on political and environmental issues and is President of Conservation West Virginia, Inc. Neal and his wife Alice live on a small farm outside of Shepherdstown, W.Va.

Neal has written about the Electoral College on his blog >>

Dr. Ray Smock led the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education as its founding director from 2002 to 2018. He recently rejoined the staff in 2021 as Interim Director. Prior to his tenure at the Byrd Center, Ray served as Historian of the United States House of Representatives from the creation of that office in 1983 until 1995. He is a past president of the Association of Centers for the Study of Congress, the Society for History in the Federal Government, and the Association for Documentary Editing. He holds the Ph.D. in American History from the University of Maryland, College Park. He is a biographer of Booker T. Washington, co-editor of Congress Investigates: A Critical and Documentary History (2 vols.), and other works on the history of Congress and the presidency. He served as a historical consultant to the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, PA.

Ray has written about his experiences with the Electoral College for the Byrd Center Blog>>

Part II: Ranked Choice Voting with Dr. Mark Brewer

Information about Ranked Choice Voting

View this animated introduction to the methodology of ranked choice voting and how it differs from the prevalent single-choice, winner-take-all structure from fairvote.org. 

Learn about how the state of Maine has implemented ranked choice voting in state and national elections in this video from the Maine Department of State. The video is hosted by former Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap. 

Click on the image above to explore ranked choice voting including a podcast on the voting system and also learn about where it has already been implemented throughout the United States. This information is provided by James Madison University Civic. 

Read a proposal for implementing Ranked Choice Voting in West Virginia for the electing of the State Supreme Court of Appeals.

Our Speaker:

Dr. Mark D. Brewer is Professor of Political Science at the University of Maine. Brewer's teaching and research interests focus broadly on political behavior and institutions, with specific areas including partisanship and electoral behavior at both the mass and elite levels, the linkages between public opinion and public policy, and the interactions that exist between religion and politics in the United States.  Brewer is the author or editor of a number of books and articles in academic journals, with the most recent being  Parties and Elections in America, 9th edition (with L. Sandy Maisel, Rowman and Littlefield, 2021), Polarization The Politics of Personal Responsibility (with Jeffrey M. Stonecash, Oxford University Press, 2015), The Parties Respond, 5th edition (with L. Sandy Maisel, Westview Press, 2013),  Party Images in the American Electorate (Routledge, 2009), and Dynamics of American Political Parties (with Jeffrey M. Stonecash, Cambridge University Press, 2009).  He is also the editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Political Science.  

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