Meet the STAR Voting team and learn about the network of organizations that keep the gears turning. 

STAR Voting is the flagship project and top recommended proposal for voting reform from the Equal Vote Coalition, a 501(c)3 nonprofit founded in 2014 dedicated to fighting for true equality in the vote itself. Equal Vote's mandate is rooted in coalition building, outreach, and education about voting methods and how they shape the world we live in. Life isn't fair, but voting should be.

The Equal Vote Coalition is the driving force behind STAR Voting. A 501(c)3 nonprofit founded in 2014, Equal Vote is dedicated to fighting for true equality in the vote itself. Equal Vote's mandate is rooted in education about voting methods and how they shape the world we live in, research and development in the field, and coalition building to grow the movement behind STAR Voting worldwide.


In 2019 we incorporated another nonprofit, STAR Voting Action 501(c)4, specifically dedicated to the advocacy for and adoption of STAR Voting, typically through the ballot initiative process and other legislative channels. STAR Voting Action allows us to fundraise for STAR Voting campaigns in advance to ensure that activists on the ground have the support and funding they need to get the job done right.

Meet the STAR Voting Team:


 

Sara Wolk

Executive Director and Secretary at the Equal Vote Coalition and STAR Voting Action
Chief Petitioner at STAR Voting for Eugene
[email protected] (she/her)

Sara Wolk was born and raised in Oregon and has been active in the voting reform movement for over a decade. She's a peer reviewed author on voting reform and a founding member of the Equal Vote Coalition nonprofit and the larger STAR Voting project. Inspired by the idea of the win-win, she believes that voters deserve inspiring voting reform options that truly deliver on our goals while addressing valid concerns with previous proposals. With a background in sustainability and design and a passion for music, adventure, and community organizing, she is working to build the kind of coalition that can heal democracy.

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Annie Kallen

President at Equal Vote
Board Director at STAR Voting Action
[email protected] (she/her)

Annie is an electoral reform organizer living in Portland, Oregon. She served on the Multnomah County Charter Review Committee in 2021-2022. She loves educating about voting method reform in accessible and entertaining ways, whether through writing, presentations, or animated videos. Her goal is to help people in underserved regions acquire more of a say in their communities, and to increase the ability for independents and the politically voiceless to have equal participation in local, federal, and world politics. She received an English degree from Portland State University, and has worked for a renewable energy company for the last 15 years. In her free time she sews, dances, does 3D design, and enjoys learning new things.

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Ruben Montejano

President at STAR Voting Action
Board Director at Equal Vote
Outreach Coordinator for STAR Voting California
[email protected] (he/him) 

Ruben Michael Montejano has been an advocate for voting reform since 2018 and helped start up the STAR Voting California Chapter. Moreover, he focuses on conservation for natives plants in his local areas and is currently a student as well as a Behavior Interventionist. In his spare time, Ruben is probably hiking, planting, researching a variety of topics from plant conservation to voting reform, or relaxing with family and/or friends.

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Duncan Siror

Vice President at STAR Voting Action
Board Director at Equal Vote
Chairman of STAR Voting Ohio
[email protected] (he/him) 

Duncan has long been interested in politics and civic engagement, which started with the history and social science classes he took in high school. He helped launch the STAR Voting Georgia chapter, where he served as the Volunteer Coordinator. He hosted tabling events at Middle Georgia State University, Macon-Bibb Parks & Recreation, and Open Streets Macon. Duncan clearly recognizes the value of outreach to varied, diverse groups. While he has spent considerable time communicating with politicians and journalists, he also educates marginalized and underserved communicates on the importance of electoral and voting method reeform.

Duncan now resides in Columbus, OH, continuing to advocate for STAR and electoral reform as a whole. He's working to create connections and alliances across the city and the state. Target organizations include Democratic Socialists of America, Libertarian Party, Forward Party, and Black Men Build.

Outside of STAR, Duncan works in IT as a network analyst. His hobbies include foreign languages, music, calisthenics, Halo, and Super Smash Bros. In addition to electoral reform, public transit and labor rights are top concerns for him.

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Andrea Denault

Vice President at Equal Vote
Board Director at STAR Voting Action
[email protected] (she/they)

Andrea Denault is a political activist who’s worked across the country for more than ten years. In 2018, she ran a landmark campaign for electoral reform, organizing the first city in America to adopt Approval Voting. After leading the historic victory in Fargo, she went on to help usher in a second win in St. Louis, spearhead similar efforts in Denver, and continues to work with electoral reform advocates throughout the U.S.

Hailing from North Dakota, Andrea is a Turtle Mountain Anishinaabekwe who was active in the occupation at Standing Rock during opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline. She’s a longtime advocate for the related intersecting issues and prioritizes economic justice, environmental policy, and antiracist work.

Andrea has led a wide variety of successful campaigns, from city council to the White House. She’s built broad coalitions for both political candidates and single-issue ballot initiatives, alike.  She has partnered with and volunteered for the ACLU, NAACP, AFL-CIO, DSA, LWV, and dozens of other advocacy groups.

As a STAR Voting Action Board Director, she’s lending her nonprofit leadership expertise and the lessons learned from previous campaigns. Her goal is to realize a democracy where all people believe there is a reason to vote and feel like the legitimate stakeholders they truly are.

Currently a political consultant, Andrea previously studied Journalism and Economics in Colorado, worked in marketing, and was a human rights lobbyist focused on LGBTQ, refugee, and Native American issues. She is a writer who enjoys cycling, comedy, armchair philosophy, and physics.

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Dr. Alan Zundel, PhD

Campaign Manager for STAR Voting for Oregon 2024
PhD in Political Science from University of Michigan
[email protected] (he/him)

Dr. Alan Zundel is the campaign manager for the STAR Voting for Oregon 2024 campaign. Alan has an M.A. (Wayne State University, 1985) and a Ph.D. (University of Michigan, 1994) in political science, and he was a tenured political science professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He was a leader in the successful initiative campaign to bring Ranked Choice Voting to Benton County, Oregon, in 2016. That same year, he ran for Oregon Secretary of State as the candidate of the Pacific Green Party. In 2017, at the invitation of Oregon Secretary of State Dennis Richardson, he chaired a Redistricting Reform Task Force. In 2018, he was a chief petitioner for the first initiative to adopt STAR Voting in Lane County, Oregon. The campaign succeeded in gathering enough signatures to get on the ballot and nearly won with 48% of voters in favor. Alan and his wife Marianne have lived in Eugene, OR since 2006. They have 2 adult children and two grandchildren in California.

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Dean Price

Treasurer at Equal Vote and STAR Voting Action
[email protected] (he/him)

Dean is a Tax Professional with the city of Lake Oswego, Oregon and is self-employed with Price Tax & Bookkeeping in Vancouver, WA. He served as Accounting Specialist with the Portland Opera full-time and attended Virginia Peninsula College. Subsequently he completed certificates in Finance Essentials for Small Business, Running a Profitable Business: Understanding Cash Flow, and Become a Financial Analysis. Dean has also served as treasurer for the Multnomah County Democratic Party.

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Dr. Keith Edmonds, PhD

Board Director at Equal Vote
Director of Canadian Electoral Research
Co-Chair, 0-5 Star Proportional Research Committee
PhD in High Energy Physics from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany
[email protected] (he/him)

Keith Edmonds is a Data Scientist by profession and a Physicist by training. He is the Director of Canadian Electoral Research for the Equal Vote Coalition. He invented Vote Unitarity and subsequently derived Sequentially Spent Score from its principle. He also derived Single distributed vote as a more natural extension of Sequential Proportional Approval Voting to Score voting ballots than Reweighted Range Voting. Keith invented STLR voting as a Utilitarian alternative to STAR voting for single-winner elections.

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Dr. Jameson Quinn, PhD

Board Director at Equal Vote
PhD in Statistics from Harvard University
[email protected] (he/him)

Dr. Jameson Quinn's decades-long interest in advancing voting theory has driven him to many relevant accomplishments including completing a PhD in statistics from Harvard, scientific research such as his work on Voter Satisfaction Efficiency, co-organizing the British Columbia Symposium on Proportional Representation, and assisting in the design of the voting system now used to maintain the integrity of the Hugo AwardsJameson has regularly made his household in Cambridge, Massachusetts a home for refugees.

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Mike Franze

Board Director at STAR Voting Action
Chair of STAR Voting California
Chair of the STAR Elections Software Development Team
Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech University
[email protected] (he/him)

Mike has been involved in the voting reform community since 2017 with his primary goal of ending extreme political polarization. He joined the Equal Vote Coalition as a volunteer in 2020 and has helped start the STAR Voting California chapter and various STAR Voting software development projects.

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Sass

Board Director at Equal Vote
Deputy Director at Equal Vote and STAR Voting Action
[email protected] (they/them)

As they were gearing up to run for US House of Representatives, Sass discovered voting method reform and quickly recognized it as “the most important first step we have to take to solve all of our other problems.” Sass’ deep dive began and their passion for voting reform ultimately led to them moving across the country to work for Equal Vote. They focus relentlessly on voter empowerment and attribute much of their growth in the voting method reform space to the welcoming and inclusive culture nurtured at Equal Vote. Sass is eager to dabble in new and diverse escapades, with experience ranging from music writing, to political activism, to martial arts. If you ever find yourself in the Eugene, OR area, be sure to ask Sass to go sing some karaoke with you!

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Arend Peter Castelein

 

Arend Peter Castelein

Production Lead at Equal Vote and STAR Voting Action
[email protected] (he/him)

In 2021, Arend quit his Software Engineering job to pursue Indie game development full-time, and his company, Star Garden Games, released Word Factori.

Around the same time, he discovered STAR Voting and has been passionate about voting reform ever since. Now, he co-leads the Software team, creates animations, and helps with a variety of other projects.

Arend can speak Dutch (the name "Arend" is Dutch for "Eagle"), and outside of work, he studies Korean and enjoys exploring Los Angeles with his wife and cat.

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Mont Chris Hubbard

Board Director at STAR Voting Action
[email protected] (he/him)

Mont Chris is a composer, music director, and performer who makes his home in Portland, Oregon. Soon after after getting involved with STAR Voting, he stepped up as chair of the STAR Voting Oregon Chapter and helped lead the STAR Voting Oregon Legislative Outreach Committee and Portland Charter Review outreach project. Mont Chris is the Secretary-Treasurer of the Musicians Union Local 99, which now uses STAR Voting for its internal elections. In addition to talking about voting methods and unions to city commissioners, state legislators, and cornered family members at Thanksgiving, Mont Chris has received numerous awards for music and theater including a 2011 Kennedy Center ACTF Meritorious Achievement Award, the 2011 Portland Music Award for Album of the Year, and the 2013 Portland Area Musical Theatre Award.

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Rep Zach Hudson, Oregon House of Representatives, District 49

Chief Petitioner for STAR Voting for Oregon 2024
[email protected] (he/him)

Rep Zack Hudson represents Oregon's 49th district in the Oregon House of Representatives.  Zach's background is as a teacher and Troutdale City Council member. He currently substituting in East Multnomah County schools. He became a teacher because he believes everyone deserves the opportunity to succeed and thrive. Zach sees Oregon's challenges—and its brightest opportunities—through the eyes of a teacher. He is passionate about investing in our kids and protecting our future. Zach works to promote equity and community, and to make the system fairer and more effective.

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Jacob Trewe

Treasurer for STAR Voting for Oregon IP-11 and STAR Voting for Eugene 20-349. 
[email protected]

Jacob holds a degree in accounting from U of O and a graduate certificate in forensic accounting from WVU. He worked as an auditor for the Offices of Inspectors General of the U.S. Treasury Department and U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency in Washington DC. After moving back to Eugene, Jacob served as the Treasurer for Hands and Voices of Oregon and currently serves as Treasurer for The Eugene-Springfield Democratic Socialists of America. He is active in community and labor organizing and is a parent of two young children, one of whom is deaf. 

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Bryan Lewis

Chief Petitioner for STAR Voting for Oregon 2024
[email protected] (he/him)


 

James "Jas" Davis

Board Director at Equal Vote and STAR Voting Action
[email protected] (he/him)

Jas graduated with a Masters in Political Management, is a board director for both STAR Voting Action and Equal Vote, is the owner of Awakenings Wellness Center in Portland, Oregon and was a past chair for the Oregon Public Bank Alliance. Jas has been an activist and community organizer for decades. He is a devoted father who enjoys hiking and camping in his spare time.

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Mark Frohnmayer 

Co-inventor of STAR Voting
Founder and Board Director at Equal Vote
[email protected] (he/him)

Mark graduated from UC Berkeley in 1996 with a degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. After 11 years in the gaming industry and the sale of his first startup, Mark turned his entrepreneurial energy towards sustainable transportation and election science, founding electric vehicle company, Arcimoto, in 2007, and the Equal Vote Coalition in 2014.

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Core Coalition Organizations:


 

The Equal Vote Coalition 501-c3

"The Equal Vote Coalition's mission is to promote true equality in the vote. The Equal Vote Coalition mandate is top-notch research, community education, and coalition building.

Our five core criteria for electoral reform are: Equality, Honesty, Accuracy, Expressiveness, and Simplicity. These criteria form the basis by which we evaluate and advance proposals for reform."

 - Equal Vote Mission Statement


 

STAR Voting Action 501c4

STAR Voting Action serves as an umbrella organization for all STAR Voting campaigns, better allowing us to fundraise in advance, and to share resources between campaigns. The 501c4 allows donors to support the project as a whole, and then allows us to direct those funds to the campaign which needs the funding most, when they need it most.


 

STAR Elections

STAR Elections mission is to ensure that anyone who wants to use STAR Voting can. We are a volunteer run coalition project with Equal Vote and STAR Voting Action which allows people to set up and host their own STAR Voting elections. Whether your plan is to hand count paper ballots or run a fully credentialed election online, or anywhere in between, we've got you covered. 


 

Campaign Committees:


 

STAR Voting for Eugene, OR

The STAR Eugene campaign re-launched in 2023 and collected enough signatures to get on the May 21th 2024 ballot.


 

STAR Voting for Riverside, CA

The STAR Riverside campaign launched in 2024. Signatures are due Oct 2nd 2024.