Where has STAR Voting been used?

STAR Voting was invented in 2014. In the last decade, it has been used around the country for impactful elections across the public, nonprofit, and private sectors. 

From the first election of a public official in Astoria, Oregon, to the Independent Party of Oregon statewide primary, to the Democratic Party of Oregon's presidential delegate elections, to organizational elections like those run by groups like the Musicians Union Local 99, STAR Voting elects strong winners who best represent their communities, no matter how many candidates are in the race. 

If you're looking to run a STAR Voting election, please visit BetterVoting.com. "Whether it's informal polls or highly secure elections, electronic or paper, single-seat or multi-seat, we've got you covered!" - The BetterVoting Team

 

Astoria City Council uses STAR Voting to elect new councilor

Case study coming soon!

 

 

Python Core Developers use Bloc STAR Voting for Steering Council

The Python Steering Council used Bloc STAR Voting on BetterVoting.com . The council serves as the formal governing body for the Python programming language. They're responsible for managing the Python Enhancement Proposal (PEP) process and maintaining the quality and consistency of the language, acting as the final decision-making body when community consensus alone is not enough.

 

Portland Musicians Union uses STAR Voting for Executive Board election

The Local 99 Musicians Union used STAR voting with paper ballots to elect three new members to their executive board. Votes were counted using a manual tallying process, followed by an audit to ensure accuracy. 

 

Bike Farm Portland uses STAR Voting to select a new mural

Bike Farm used STAR voting on bettervoting.com to select a new mural for their building. Voters were presented with three different mural design choices, with a total of 70 votes cast.

 

 

AAUW of Oregon uses STAR Voting to select scholarship recipients

AAUW of Oregon used BetterVoting.com’s STAR Voting process, combined with a ballot for each AAUW of Oregon representative to review.

 
DSA LA

 

Los Angeles DSA Internal Elections

DSA-LA used BetterVoting.com to run Proportional STAR Voting for their internal elections in 2024. This included many committees such as their steering committee, as well as branch elections which were configured to only be shown to voters from that branch. BetterVoting.com sent emails to 3000+ DSA members with over 300 participating (slightly higher than the turnout from prior elections). 

 

PCD Congressional and State Delegates Election

Polk County Democrats use STAR Voting to elect their congressional and state delegates, as stated in their bylaws. In December 2024 they used BetterVoting.com to run their elections.

 

 

Deschutes County Democrats - Endorsement Elections

Deschutes Democrats uses STAR Voting for its local Special District election endorsements. These elections are hosted online with Google Forms, Google Sheets, and VAN, along with the STAR Elections app to verify tabulation consistency with the spreadsheet and to generate election graphics.

 

 

FAQ for the Bloc STAR MultDems Reorg Election

Article by Sara Wolk, published in the County Democrat Reader 

 

 

Independent Party of Oregon STAR Voting Primary: Spotlight on the Data - Secretary of State Election

Almost 30% of voters showed no preference between the finalists in the Secretary of State race. What does that mean for the results?

 

 

Democratic Party of Oregon Presidential Delegate Elections: A walk-through of the voter experience

Eligible voters were given the option to vote by mail or to use online voting in order to vote for delegates to the DNC National Convention to represent their preferred presidential candidates. The election used multi-winner STAR Voting with a modification to allow for gender-balancing of the winner list.

 

 

Independent Party of Oregon STAR Voting Primary: Spotlight on the Data

Presidential Preference Poll:

Results breakdown, vote splitting avoided, expressive voting analysis, and more.

 

 

Independent Party of Oregon Primary Results


This year the Independent Party of Oregon primary took place online, using STAR Voting. The election was officiated by STAR Elections, our very own in house team.

 

 

DNC to use STAR Voting to elect Oregon's Presidential Delegates to the Democratic National Convention!

This historic decision launched STAR Voting onto the national stage, empowering Oregon voters, protecting election integrity, and helping to ensure fair and representative results. The Democratic National Convention may determine our next president, so in the event of a close race or brokered convention Oregon's STAR elected delegates could make all the difference.

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Multnomah County Democratic Party - Internal Elections
Adopted in early 2020

All internal elections for Multnomah County Democrats use STAR Voting for single-winner and multi-winner elections. This includes officer elections, 1st, 3rd, and 5th congressional district delegate and alternate election, and state central committee delegate and alternate elections. Following its adoption these delegations noted a marked increase in representation of individuals from historically marginalized and underrepresented communities. 

Case study write up coming soon.

 

ALTERNATIVE VOTING METHOD PILOT - Election Integrity Caucus

Attendees at the Multnomah County Central Committee participated in a pilot project to compare 3 voting methods: “Choose-One” Plurality Voting (our current system), STAR Voting, and Ranked Choice Voting. All three ballots contained the same list of candidates; the candidates running in the 2020 presidential democratic primary.

 

University of Oregon - Department of Mathematics

STAR Voting was used for a hiring committee for a new staff member. Due to privacy concerns the committee opted not to put out a case study on the election, but it was a success. STAR worked well and a difficult decision was made fairly and democratically.

 

Best of Eugene uses STAR Voting

email blast by Sara Wolk

Voting on Round One ran from 9/13 to 9/26 and focused on Eats and Civics. Round Two ran from 9/27 to 10/10 and focused on Spending and Live Action. 

 

Washington Berniecrats used STAR for Primary Endorsements
Spring

In a statewide vote of the full membership, Washington Berniecrats, a branch of Our Revolution, used STAR Voting on Google Forms to officiate their Endorsement election. Case Study coming soon.

 

STAR Voting - First Use in a Public Poll!

blog post by Mark Frohnmayer

Portland Forward graciously allowed us to invite ourselves to officiate the world's first public poll using STAR Voting* this last weekend at their annual SpringThing!!!. SpringThing's purpose is to "bring together a diverse and multi-generational group of citizens who are invested in leaving this city better than we found it, to empower citizen voices, and make change happen." What better place to give true democracy a test-drive?

Last updated 4/18/26