STAR Voting: from Multnomah County to the Nation with Love

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STAR Voting: From Multnomah County to the Nation With Love Necessity is the mother of invention and not surprisingly this has been a groundbreaking year for election reform. In Oregon the Equal Vote Coalition is collecting signatures for twin ballot initiatives in two counties to fundamentally change the way we vote. If successful, we will have elections for the first time EVER where the voting system doesn't play favorites, where every vote makes a difference, and where voting your conscience is the best strategy. This is what democracy looks like! “Simply give each candidate a five star rating. Let’s rise above the polarization and allow voters to show their full opinion!” -www.starvoting.us The central idea is that our votes should be equal, no matter how many candidates we like, what parties we affiliate with, or if we’re in a minority faction. Our current “vote for one” system is only accurate if there are only two candidates but if there are more than that it fails the test of equality miserably. It's basic bad design and we can do better. With STAR Voting we would skip the low turnout primary all together. You only need to vote once in November, and those ballots are counted in a two step process. STAR stands for Score-Then-Automatic-Runoff and that’s exactly how it works: The two highest scoring candidates are finalists. In the automatic runoff the finalist preferred by more voters wins. Unlike our current system the star ballot lets us show our full, honest opinions. Unlike other instant runoff systems, no ballots are eliminated so every vote is fully counted. While it’s fairly simple, the implications are groundbreaking. Even if your favorites can’t win, your vote still makes a difference and helps prevent your worst case scenario. No matter how many candidates are in the race STAR Voting is highly accurate at electing the candidate with the most support. Check out the website to learn more: http://starvoting.us.

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