Organizers hope to put STAR voting on the ballot in 2024

Jenah’Eve Hartman: Hey, this is Jenah for KEPW 97.3.

[00:00:04] Voters in Oregon may soon be able to score political candidates and have that score decide the winner.

[00:00:11] The Equal Vote Coalition will start collecting signatures for STAR voting. If they collect enough signatures, the initiative will be on the ballot in November 2024.

[00:00:22] STAR voting could become the default voting method for all local statewide and presidential elections in Oregon.

[00:00:29] In STAR voting, voters score candidates from zero up to five stars showing their level of support.

[00:00:36] Ballots are counted in a two-step process. The two highest-scoring candidates advance and your full vote automatically goes to the finalist you prefer.

[00:00:47] As the default, STAR voting will eliminate the primary elections, which would save money.

[00:00:52] STAR voting was invented in Oregon. Several political parties now used STAR voting for local and statewide elections. If adopted, Oregon will be the first state to use STAR voting for municipal elections. Oregon was first in the nation to pioneer vote by mail, automatic voter registration, and the ballot initiative itself.

[00:01:14] This has been Jenah for Youth Radio Project. Thank you for listening to KEPW 97.3 FM, Eugene Peace Works radio.