STAR Voting for Oregon 2024

STAR Voting for Oregon was a citizens’ campaign to pass an initiative bringing STAR Voting to elections across Oregon, from local races to the presidential primary and general elections. With 33,683 signatures collected we suspended the canvass for IP-11 in February 2024 due to funding constraints. 

STAR Voting for Eugene 2024

STAR Voting for Eugene would implement STAR Voting for mayor and city council elections. Eugene elections are already nonpartisan, so STAR Voting would make a separate expensive primary election unnecessary. Voters would just vote once in November. This would save money for both the city and for candidates compared to the current system. 

The STAR Voting for Eugene Initiative began circulating on June 22nd in conjunction with the STAR Voting for Oregon Initiative Petition, which launched in January 2023, qualified for the ballot, and received 46% of the vote.

STAR Voting for Oakridge Pilot 2024

Oakridge City Council and the Charter Reform Commission referred a ballot measure to the voters to adopt STAR Voting as a pilot project for mayor and city council elections.  

STAR Voting for Oakridge Measure 20-364 wouldn't cost anything for the city and voters would get to try STAR Voting for three election cycles before voting to adopt it permanently. Oakridge city elections are already nonpartisan and are conducted through a single election in November, This would not change. 

The STAR Voting for Oakridge initiative was on the November 2024 ballot and received 46% of the vote, losing by only 99 votes. 

STAR Voting for Eugene 2020

The STAR Voting for Eugene campaign turned in 10,406 signatures to qualify for the May 2020 ballot, but despite turning in well over the 8,091 signatures required, the 2019-1 petition was erroneously found to be short 111 signatures and was deemed "void."

Eugene voters who were incorrectly rejected from the 20% sample for "signature mismatch" promptly signed and submitted affidavits affirming that they had in fact signed the petition and verifying the authenticity of their signatures. Counting these would have resulted in an additional 115 signatures being counted and the petition should have been placed on the ballot, but was not.

Eugene City Council then looked into the matter and confirmed that the signatures in question were from valid registered voters but declined to take action. A lawsuit followed immediately and though the court took no issue with the veracity of the signatures they refused to take action to correct the matter as the matter was "moot" because the election the initiative should have appeared on had already taken place. 

STAR Voting for Oregon 2021

Convenes a Statewide Legislative Task Force On Voting Methods

Oregon House Bill 3241 (2021):

• Establishes Task Force on Alternative Voting Methods.
• Directs task force to conduct systematic examination of alternative voting methods and their advantages and disadvantages for use in the state.
• Takes effect on 91st day following adjournment sine die. Sunsets task force on at the end of the following year.

Amends Utah Voting Reform Pilot To Include STAR and Approval Voting 

Utah House Bill 174 (2021):

• Extends previous pilot project to trial Ranked Choice (Instant Runoff) Voting to allow municipalities to trial STAR Voting or Approval Voting if desired.
• Defines STAR Voting as a type of allowed instant runoff method and describes tabulation.

STAR Voting for Eugene 2020

The STAR Voting for Eugene campaign turned in 10,406 signatures to qualify for the May 2020 ballot, but despite turning in well over the 8,091 signatures required, the 2019-1 petition was erroneously found to be short 111 signatures and was deemed "void."

Eugene voters who were incorrectly rejected from the 20% sample for "signature mismatch" promptly signed and submitted affidavits affirming that they had in fact signed the petition and verifying the authenticity of their signatures. Counting these would have resulted in an additional 115 signatures being counted and the petition should have been placed on the ballot, but was not.

Eugene City Council then looked into the matter and confirmed that the signatures in question were from valid registered voters but declined to take action. A lawsuit followed immediately and though the court took no issue with the veracity of the signatures they refused to take action to correct the matter as the issue was "moot" because the election the initiative should have appeared on had already taken place. 

STAR Voting for Eugene 2020 Lawsuit

• The STAR Voting for Eugene campaign turned in 10,406 signatures to qualify for the May 2020 ballot, but despite turning in well over the 8,091 signatures required, the 2019-1 petition was found to be short 111 signatures and was deemed "void."
  
  
• The verification process looked at a 20% sample of the signatures submitted, erroneously rejected 22%, and determined that the fate of the petition accordingly. If only 23 of the signers who were rejected from the sample had been counted the petition would have qualified.

1.) 23 valid Eugene voters who were rejected for "signature mismatch" promptly signed and submitted affidavits affirming that they had in fact signed the petition and verifying the authenticity of their signatures. Counting these would result in an additional 115 signatures being counted. 

2.) 255 voters were rejected due to having been listed as "inactive voters" despite the fact that they actively signed the petition. Correcting this act of voter disenfranchisement would result in 1275 additional signatures being counted. 

3.)  An "error report" was submitted documenting 34 signatures which were rejected for "signature mismatch" but which we analyzed and believe should have been counted. Correcting these verification errors would result in an additional 170 signatures being counted. 

• The Oregon Supreme Court declined to review the case and incorrectly ruled it "moot" because the 2020 election had already occured. In Oregon, statewide petitions are tied to specific elections but local petitions are not. A successful local Oregon petition should simply qualify for the next applicable election after the signatures are accepted, which has yet to occur. 
  
  
• We plan to appeal the case at the federal level as would sets important national precedents for voter rights and the initiative petition process.