LET’S BRING STAR VOTING TO ELECTIONS ACROSS OREGON!

 

STAR Voting is an innovative voting method for more representative elections. Instead of being limited to picking just one candidate, you can score as many candidates as you like, showing your preference order and your level of support for the options.

STAR Voting empowers voters to express their views and opinions more accurately, ensures that voters are able to vote their conscience without wasting their vote, combats polarization, and does a better job at electing winners who actually represent the will of the people.

STAR Voting for Oregon is a citizens’ campaign to pass an initiative bringing STAR Voting to elections across Oregon, from local races to the presidential primary and general elections.

 

 

 

UPDATE, Nov 11th, 2023: IP 2024-011, STAR Voting for Oregon, has been out collecting signatures all year in conjunction with the STAR Voting for Eugene petition drive and canvassers are now fanning out around the state. We now have over 22,771 signatures in hand. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to get all the details!

 

PRESS RELEASE, September 2nd, 2022: The Equal Vote Coalition is excited to announce the launch of a statewide STAR Voting for Oregon ballot initiative, building on Oregon’s legacy as a leader and pioneer in electoral reform. If the petition is successful, the initiative will be on the November 2024 ballot, and if adopted, STAR Voting would become the default voting method for all local, statewide, and presidential elections in Oregon. 

In STAR Voting, voters score candidates from zero up to five stars, showing their preferences and their level of support for the options. Ballots are counted in a two-step process where the two highest-scoring candidates advance, and your full vote automatically goes to the finalist you prefer. As the default, STAR would eliminate primaries for nonpartisan offices, streamlining the process and saving money.

“I am excited about what this can do for Oregon's voting system and look forward to working with its broad, passionate base of advocates,” remarked chief petitioner, Representative Zach Hudson. Multnomah County and Portland Charter Review Commissioners Annie Kallen and Bryan Lewis are also chief petitioners on the initiative. 

“Our current process is plagued with vote-splitting and spoilers and breaks if there are more than two candidates in a given race. This leads to a whole slew of toxic incentives and hyper-polarization, which in turn inflates the influence of money in politics, and creates barriers to entry,” explained Equal Vote Coalition Executive Director Sara Wolk.

STAR Voting was invented in Oregon and several political parties now use STAR for elections at the local and statewide levels. If adopted, Oregon will be the first state to use STAR Voting for municipal elections. Just as Oregon was first in the nation to pioneer vote by mail, automatic voter registration, and the ballot initiative itself,  Oregon STAR advocates hope to lead on voting reform with a modern, science-backed voting method that delivers. 

“I believe in STAR because it will enable the people of Oregon to boldly vote their conscience without reservations or second guessing,” said Lewis. “STAR creates the voting, campaigning, and politics we want and deserve.” 

“I’m excited about STAR Voting because it really gets to the heart of what’s wrong with our elections,” added Kallen. “Right now, people can’t vote their conscience without wasting their vote. Ranked Choice Voting is supposed to solve that problem, but it maintains the root problems behind strategic voting and wasted votes, and requires centralized tabulation, which is less secure and transparent. STAR Voting goes further to make sure all votes are counted equally, and it can be tabulated locally."

 

 

What IP 2024-011, "STAR Voting for Oregon" does:

  • Establishes STAR as the default voting method for the State of Oregon for elections at every level, from school boards to city councils, state congressional offices, federal congressional offices, presidential primaries, and Oregon's presidential general election. 
  • Implements single-winner STAR for elections that are currently single-winner and Bloc STAR for elections that are currently multi-winner.
  • Respects local innovation by grandfathering in other alternative voting methods, including Ranked Choice or Approval Voting, which have been recently adopted at the local level. Allows for future upgrades or innovations including proportional representation if desired. 
  • Eliminates unnecessary primaries. As the default, nonpartisan elections would not have primary elections unless the jurisdiction determined that they wanted to do so. For jurisdictions that do want primaries for particular offices, they would only be conducted in cases where there are six or more candidates, and the top five candidates would advance to the general election.
  • For elections to partisan offices (currently most of Oregon's statewide and federal offices), STAR would be used for all partisan primaries, and general elections. In the event that under six candidates file to run for office all five would automatically advance to the general election.
  • Read our Frequently Asked Questions for the STAR Voting for Oregon 2024 Initiative here. 

     

Why support STAR Voting for Oregon:

  • More choice. Voters simply score candidates from 0 up to 5 stars.
  • STAR Voting eliminates spoilers and vote-splitting, so you can stop worrying about who you think can win and just focus on the candidates and the issues. 
  • STAR Voting incentives and rewards voters for voting honestly and expressively. 
  • STAR Voting elects majority preferred winners whenever possible.
  • STAR Voting would simplify the election process, shortening the election cycle where possible, and ensuring that our elected leaders are chosen in general elections only, when the most voters are paying attention and participating.
  • STAR Voting is fully compatible with our current election officiation processes and election integrity requirements, including vote by mail, hand count protocols, and risk limiting audit protocols. No new hardware would need to be purchased, and election results would be tallied and reported immediately. 
  • Simple implementation logistics and skipping unnecessary primaries means that transition costs to switch to STAR Voting would be relatively low. STAR would likely pay for itself within a few election cycles, and then would start saving taxpayers money. 
  • This is our chance to be a model for the rest of the nation.
  • Learn more about STAR Voting and alternative voting here. 

 

Action Items: 

We are reaching out to local organizations, nonprofits, elected officials, representatives, and senators to sign on to endorse IP-2024-011, STAR Voting for Oregon. 

  • Click here to donate to the campaign! 
  • Join us at the STAR Voting Oregon Chapter monthly meetings on 1st Tuesdays at 6pm to get involved.
  • Join our email list to stay in the loop! 
  • Help us get endorsements and signers!
  • Email [email protected] to volunteer and/or help collect signatures. We have something for everyone.
  • Email your elected representatives, legislators, and senators and let them know why STAR voting is important to you. Ask them to endorse STAR voting. Find your state representatives here.


To donate:

  • Donate to the STAR Voting general campaign fund at starvoting.org/donate.
  • Donate to IP 2024-011 online! 
  • Write a check to "STAR Voting for Oregon P-011" and mail to PO Box 51243, Eugene, OR 97405. 

To schedule and interview please contact: [email protected]

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