Ranked Choice, STAR Voting Referendums Coming In 2024

Americans are looking to alternative voting systems to end the infamous spoiler effect.

Jan 09, 2024

New voting systems designed to end the “spoiler” effect and discourage partisan polarization are gaining momentum ahead of America’s 2024 elections.

In November 2024, at least two states—Nevada and Oregon—will hold referendums on whether or not to adopt ranked-choice voting (RCV). Several initiatives in other states have yet to be confirmed.

RCV, which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference, is currently used in some form by two states—Alaska and Maine—and forty-five cities across the country. Five states—Florida, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, and Tennessee—have prohibited RCV statewide, however, as the method became more controversial in recent years.

Another voting system known as score-then-automatic-runoff (STAR) voting, which asks voters to rate each candidate individually on a scale of 0 to 5, is set to appear on its second-ever ballot referendum in the country in Eugene, Oregon on May 21.

Advocates of both RCV and STAR contend that their respective voting method best represents the will of voters, eliminates the spoiler effect (also known as the “vote-splitting” effect), and discourages partisan polarization. RCV has far more support and momentum across the country than STAR, although STAR was only first proposed as a concept in 2014.

2024 will provide opportunities for both RCV and STAR to expand into new places and advance America’s experiment with changing the way we vote.

*American and Alaskan flags next to a Christmas tree, December 2008 [Source—Wonderlane, License—CC BY 2.0]*

Ranked-choice Voting

In the past five years, RCV has been adopted statewide in some form by two states. An additional six states use RCV specifically for military and overseas voters and forty-five cities have adopted it for local elections.

Maine became the first state in the country to adopt RCV in congressional, state legislative, and gubernatorial elections with the approval of a ballot referendum in 2016. The state legislature then voted in 2019 to adopt RCV for presidential primaries and general elections as well.

In 2020, Alaskans voted to adopt RCV for all general elections and replace party primaries with open top-four primaries in congressional, state legislative, and gubernatorial elections. RCV received perhaps the most intense national scrutiny it has faced yet when it was first used by Alaska in 2022. Former tribal judge and Bethel city councilor Mary Peltola defeated former Governor Sarah Palin, becoming the first Democrat to represent Alaska in the U.S. House in half a century.

RCV advocates hailed Palin’s loss as an example of the voting system working to keep a polarizing candidate out of office. The election attached a partisan angle to the public perception of RCV, however, as Republicans lost a seat their party had held since 1973.

The election also attracted criticism of the tabulation process. Alaska adopted an open top-four primary system in which all candidates, regardless of party, compete in one primary election and the top four advance to the general election. In Alaska’s 2022 special election, Republican Nick Begich and independent Al Gross advanced alongside Peltola and Palin. Gross, however, withdrew from the race before the general election.

Most Alaska voters preferred Begich over Peltola in a head-to-head matchup. In Alaska’s ranked-choice system, however, Begich was eliminated during the first round of tabulation since he earned the fewest first-place votes. Voters who ranked Begich first then had their second choices counted, and Peltola defeated Palin.

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The most consistent criticism of RCV is that it is confusing, thus dampening voter turnout. The average voter does not find the concept of ranking to be confusing, but the tabulation process is clearly more complicated than it is with traditional choose-one voting, which could contribute to mistrust of the electoral process.

Alaskans may vote on an initiative this year seeking to prohibit the voting method they approved four years earlier. Meanwhile, Nevada and Oregon will vote on whether or not to adopt RCV this November and initiatives are underway in at least five more states—Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, and Montana—to get it on the ballot.

Most minor parties include RCV in their platforms, and Andrew Yang’s Forward Party has made RCV its’ flagship policy. Yang praised Alaska’s new voting system for enabling Peltola to defeat Palin and Senator Lisa Murkowski to win re-election. After voting to impeach former President Donald Trump in February 2021, Murkowski’s approval rating among Republicans dropped precipitously. Her chances of winning a Republican primary would have been slim to none.

In Alaska’s open primary, however, she won enough support among all voters to advance to the general election and win a fourth term in the Senate.

2024 Libertarian presidential candidate Chase Oliver was a strong advocate for RCV during his 2022 Senate campaign in Georgia, a state that requires the top two candidates in a general election to participate in a second run-off election if no one earns 50 percent of the vote. Oliver promoted RCV as a way to end run-offs and save the time and taxpayer money spent on them.

November’s elections will be a test of whether RCV can break further into the mainstream and expand beyond just a handful of states.

RCV’s rapid growth suggests that it has the potential to challenge choose-one voting as America’s dominant voting system over the course of several election cycles, yet the emergence of staunch opposition to it could just as easily sap momentum and reverse progress made by RCV groups.

*Andrew Yang speaking at the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University, Phoenix, Arizona, November 2023 [Source—Gage Skidmore, License—CC BY-SA 2.0]*

STAR Voting

STAR voting was created by electric vehicle entrepreneur Mark Frohnmayer just nine years ago.

STAR asks voters to score each candidate individually between 0 and 5. In the first round of tabulation, the sums of the candidates’ scores are taken. The two candidates with the highest total scores then become the finalists, and in the second round, votes are tallied based on which finalist was scored higher on each ballot. The candidate who was scored higher on more ballot wins.

The new method appeared on a ballot referendum for the first time in the country’s history just six years ago. In 2018, an initiative to adopt STAR voting in Lane Country, Oregon fell short with 52 percent opposed and 48 percent in favor. This year, STAR is headed for a second ballot referendum in Eugene, Oregon. Eugene voters will decide whether or not to adopt STAR in local elections for mayor and city council on May 21.

Supporters gathered a total of 14,430 signatures in 100 days to get the Eugene initiative on the ballot. The initiative would end primary elections for the city’s local elections, which are already nonpartisan races, allowing residents to vote just once.

An Oregon initiative to place STAR voting on the statewide ballot in 2024 is also underway, although an RCV initiative is confirmed to appear on the state’s ballot as well. Support for STAR originated in and remains centered in Oregon, which means that its potential to spread to other states hinges on whether supporters can convince cities in their home state to adopt it.

Advocates of STAR contend that RCV fails to solve the vote-splitting effect or otherwise help new parties or independent candidates. The Equal Vote Coalition, a nonprofit advocating for STAR voting, argues that “vote-splitting can still happen in any round” of a ranked-choice election.

Alaska’s 2022 special House election could be viewed as an example of vote-splitting affecting a ranked-choice system. Voters in the state preferred Begich over Peltola, yet Begich was eliminated in the first round of tabulation since it included two Republicans and one Democrat. Peltola cruised to the second round with 40 percent of first-round votes as the only Democrat on the ballot, Palin advanced with 31 percent, and Begich was eliminated with 28 percent.

The Equal Vote Coalition concedes that RCV “mitigates” the spoiler effect, although they prefer STAR given that vote-splitting can still occur in any round of ranked-choice tabulation with three or more candidates.

STAR, according to supporters, fully eliminates the spoiler effect by allowing voters to express support for multiple candidates and to show preference between them.

The 2024 elections will provide multiple cities and states with the opportunity to experiment with alternative voting systems.

In addition to the two methods discussed in this article, a third method called approval voting experienced a burst of support when it was adopted for local elections in Fargo, North Dakota in 2018 and St. Louis, Missouri in 2020. Approval voting simply asks voters to select all of the candidates whom they approve of and the candidate with the most votes is elected.

Voting reform advocates should not become wedded to one method or another, but should seek to conduct an honest and thorough analysis of what steps will accomplish the ultimate goals of ending the spoiler effect and improving representation.

Minor parties should work to empower themselves in 2024 by supporting voting reform initiatives, as well. Initiatives to end the spoiler effect, one of the chief barriers to a multi-party system, are among the most productive use of minor parties’ time and resources.

The success of RCV and STAR in 2024, after all, could mean the success of new parties and independents in 2026 and 2028.