9.28 Myths about STAR, Range, and Approval Voting

STAR is an acronym for “Score, Then Automatic Runoff.”

Figure 9.17 shows a sample STAR ballot.[697]

In STAR voting, the voter gives each candidate a score from “no stars” (the worst) to “five stars” (the best). Voters can assign scores to candidates without restriction. That is, a voter need not assign a particular score (e.g., five stars) to any candidate and can give the same score to more than one candidate.

There are two rounds of counting in STAR voting.

In the first round (called the “scoring” round), each candidate’s total score is computed by adding up all of that candidate’s scores from all the ballots. The two candidates with the highest total scores then proceed to an automatic runoff.[698]

In the second round of counting (the “runoff”), every voter’s ballot counts as one vote. One vote goes to whichever finalist an individual voter scored higher. If a voter scored the two finalists equally, that voter is considered to have abstained in the runoff. The candidate receiving the most total votes in the runoff wins.

Ties in the first round are broken in favor of the candidate who was preferred by more voters. Ties in the second round are broken in favor of the candidate who scored higher in the first round.[699]

STAR voting is currently not in use today in the United States for any public elections.

In 2018, voters in Lane County, Oregon (which contains the city of Eugene) rejected an initiative petition to adopt STAR voting for local elections.

In May 2024, voters in the city of Eugene, Oregon, rejected an initiative petition to adopt STAR voting for local elections by a 65%–35% margin.[700]

Sean Parnell, the Senior Legislative Director of Save Our States, provided written testimony to the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee of the Maine Legislature on January 8, 2024, saying:

“Approval voting, range voting, and STAR voting … can only work with traditional plurality voting.”[701]

That statement is false.

If legislation is being drafted to enact STAR voting at the state level, and STAR voting is to be used in the presidential election, it is a straightforward matter to draft such legislation so that STAR voting would operate harmoniously with the National Popular Vote Compact.

We present the following as the most obvious approach.

Because each voter in STAR voting has one vote in the final round of tabulation involving two candidates, the wording in the RCV legislation that the Oregon legislature put on the November 2024 ballot[702] would be the obvious way to implement STAR voting if it were being used in presidential elections.

That is, the total number of votes earned by the two finalists in the runoff round of STAR voting would be reported in the state’s Certificate of Ascertainment.

Thus, a state legislative bill for adopting STAR voting would say:

“If the Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote[703] governs the appointment of presidential electors, and the election of presidential electors in this state is determined by STAR voting, the final determination of the presidential vote count reported and certified to the member states of the Agreement and to the federal government shall be the votes received in the final round of statewide tabulation by each slate of candidates for the offices of President and Vice President of the United States that received votes in the final round of statewide tabulation.”

A legislative bill for adopting STAR voting will necessarily contain a provision specifying the conditions under which a candidate will be declared elected.

If the state adopting STAR voting has also adopted the National Popular Vote Compact, the condition under which presidential electors will be declared elected is based on the nationwide popular vote—not the statewide count. Therefore, it is important that the following “saving” provision also be part of a state legislative bill for adopting STAR voting:

“The determination of which candidates for presidential elector shall be declared elected in this state shall be made in accordance with the provisions of the Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote.”

Footnotes

Range voting (sometimes called “score voting”) is essentially the first round of STAR voting.

A range voting ballot could allow for any number of stars (e.g., zero to five, one to 10).

A ballot for range voting looks substantially the same as a ballot for STAR voting (except, of course, for the description of how the winner is determined). Thus, figure 9.17 also serves to illustrate a range voting ballot.

As in STAR voting, range voting involves assigning scores to candidates without restriction. That is, a voter need not assign a particular score (e.g., five stars) to any candidate and can give the same score to more than one candidate.

In range voting, each candidate’s total score is computed by adding up all of that candidate’s scores from all of the ballots. The candidate with the highest total score wins.

Range voting is not used today in any jurisdiction in the United States for public elections.

Additional information about range voting is available at https://www.RangeVoting.org and Wikipedia.[704]

Sean Parnell, the Senior Legislative Director of Save Our States, provided written testimony to the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee of the Maine Legislature on January 8, 2024, saying:

“Approval voting, range voting, and STAR voting … can only work with traditional plurality voting.”[705]

That statement is incorrect.

If legislation is being drafted to enact range voting at the state level, and range voting is to be used in the presidential election, such legislation can be written so that it would operate harmoniously with the National Popular Vote Compact.

We present the following as the most obvious approach.

Note that in range voting, the sum of the scores assigned by one voter might not equal the total score assigned by another voter. This fact does not matter in STAR voting, because STAR voting has two rounds, and every voter has exactly one vote in the final runoff round.

However, range voting does not have a runoff. Supporters of range voting have suggested, on their web site, a formula that might be considered as a possible solution in case range voting is ever adopted by a state and in cast it is ever used in presidential elections.[706]

Then, the two additional provisions presented in connection with STAR voting (section 9.28.1) should also be included in the implementing legislation for range voting.

Footnotes

In approval voting, each voter may cast a vote for as many or as few candidates as they like. The candidate receiving the most votes wins.

Figure 9.18 shows a sample ballot for approval voting.[707]

Additional information about approval voting is available at www.ElectionScience.org and Wikipedia.[708]

In 2018, Fargo, North Dakota, passed a local ballot initiative adopting approval voting for the city’s local elections. Approval voting has been used there starting in 2020.[709]

Sean Parnell, the Senior Legislative Director of Save Our States, provided written testimony to the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee of the Maine Legislature on January 8, 2024, saying:

“Approval voting, range voting, and STAR voting … can only work with traditional plurality voting.”[710]

If legislation is being drafted to enact approval voting at the state level, and approval voting is to be used in the presidential election, it is a straightforward matter to draft such legislation so that it would operate harmoniously with the National Popular Vote Compact.

We present the following as the most obvious approach.

Note that in approval voting as used in Fargo, the number of approvals issued by one voter might not equal the number issued by other voters.

Therefore, if approval voting as used in Fargo were being considered for use in presidential elections, a voter issuing N approvals could be deemed to have cast a fractional vote of 1/N for each of that voter’s approved candidates.

Then, the two additional provisions presented in connection with STAR voting should also be included in the implementing legislation for approval voting (section 9.28.1).

Top-two approval voting

In 2020, voters in St. Louis, Missouri, adopted a variation of approval voting for the city’s local elections.[711], [712]

Top-two approval voting is identical to STAR voting (and ranked choice voting) in that each voter has one vote in the decisive final round of tabulation.

Thus, the two provisions presented in connection with STAR voting (section 9.28.1) would allow top-two approval voting to operate harmoniously with the National Popular Vote Compact.

Note, however, that there is a runoff for the two candidates receiving the highest number of approvals in top-two approval voting. That is, two election days are required. Thus, harmonizing top-two approval voting with federal requirements would presumably require holding the first round of voting prior to Election Day in November.

Footnotes