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- The very first campaigns for STAR Voting launched in 2017 in both Lane and Multnomah County. At the time, STAR Voting and Equal Vote, the organization behind the movement, were both brand new, but even with an underfunded grassroots campaign, STAR was able to make it onto the ballot in Lane County, where it received 48% of the vote in 2018.
- In 2019 we collected signatures for a pair of new initiatives in Eugene and Lane County. In only 90 days, the Eugene campaign collected the signatures needed, including a 30% buffer, but the local elections division blocked it from the ballot by throwing out a number of signatures which we later proved had in fact been valid. There is an ongoing court case filed with Lane County Elections and the City of Eugene to count the additional 11 valid signatures needed and put the measure on the ballot. If and when that case wins in court Eugene, we’ll see STAR Voting on the ballot at the next election.
- For county initiatives like Lane County, the signature collection window is a full two years long. The STAR Voting for Lane County campaign was on track to make the 2020 ballot after a full year of canvassing with volunteers only when the pandemic hit. They made the hard choice to suspend in person canvassing in March of 2020, and requested an extension be granted. Despite having said otherwise, the Lane County Commissioners ultimately decided not to grant that extension, and the roughly 10k signatures collected all expired in 2020.
- Between voter disenfranchisement by the city of Eugene and Lane County Elections and a pandemic, the STAR Voting movement had some serious setbacks, but ultimately refocused on growing the organization and the movement. That growth needed to happen anyway, and the pandemic provided the opportunity to do quite a bit of work that has exponentially increased our potential to launch and win STAR Voting campaigns going forward both in Oregon and around the country.
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