STAR voting
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STAR (an acronym for Score Then Automatic Runoff) voting is an electoral system in which voters rate the candidates for a given office on a scale of zero to five, with zero indicating no support and five indicating maximum support. The scores for all candidates are then tabulated and the top highest-scored candidates advance to an automatic runoff, at which time a voter's full vote is assigned to whichever of the two candidates he or she scored highest. The candidate whom a greater number of voters gave a higher score in the runoff is declared the winner. STAR voting was developed in 2014 by the Equal Vote Coalition.[1]
Example
Imagine that five candidates are running for mayor in a hypothetical city. On their ballots, voters rank these candidates on a scale of zero to five, five indicating the maximum support. The ratings are tabulated as follows for all candidates.[2]
| Candidate | Total score |
|---|---|
| Candidate A | 420 |
| Candidate B | 240 |
| Candidate C | 130 |
| Candidate D | 100 |
| Candidate E | 50 |
Candidates A and B advance to the automatic runoff. At this point, each ballot is reassigned to whichever of the top two highest-scored candidates was ranked higher on that ballot. The winner is the candidate with the highest number of reassigned (post-initial tabulation) votes.[2]
A voter can give two or more candidates the same score. Should both of these candidates advance to the runoff, this would be counted as a vote of no preference between those two.[2]
Ballot measures
The following table provides a list of local ballot measures related to STAR voting:
| State | Year | Ballot Measure | Status | Yes Votes | No Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oregon | 2018 | Lane Measure 20-290 | Defeated | 75,807 (48%) | 83,450 (52%) |
| Oregon | 2024 | Eugene Measure 20-349 | Defeated | 15,871 (36%) | 28,818 (64%) |
| Oregon | 2024 | Oakridge Measure 20-364 | Defeated | 653 (46%) | 753 (54%) |
