Equal Vote is a grassroots powered organization driven by our mission and the passion of our volunteer base. The driving force behind the STAR Voting movement and a leading proponent of equitable voting methods in general, The Equal Vote Coalition is a registered 501c3 non-profit. Since our genesis in 2014 the The Equal Vote Coalition has grown and evolved significantly. Learn more about our coalition partners and projects and apply to join the coalition here.
Our Mission:
Our current voting method is inherently unequal, and this inequality has decidedly negative consequences: outsized influence of money in politics, hyper-partisan rancor, and widespread electoral disenchantment.
"The Equal Vote Coalition’s mission is to promote true equality in the vote. We conduct and support top-notch research, educate communities, and build coalitions.
Our five core principles for electoral reform mandate that proposals we support empower Honesty, Equality, Accuracy, Expressiveness, and Simplicity. These criteria form the basis by which we evaluate and advance proposals for better voting."
Meet the Team:
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Mark Frohnmayer Co-inventor of STAR Voting 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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Annie Kallen President at Equal Vote Annie is chair of the Equal Vote Coalition and has been advocating for STAR voting and other better voting methods since 2018. She lives in Portland, Oregon and volunteers for a variety of causes, particularly those having to do with advocacy and support for immigrants and refugees, youth in communities with need, and election reform. Her passion is in helping people in underserved regions acquire more of a voice in policies, more access to public resources, and more opportunities to build community. She received an English degree from Portland State University in 2001, and has worked for a renewable energy company for the last 15 years. In her free time she sews, hikes, does 3D design and other art, and enjoys learning new things. |
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Ruben Montejano President at STAR Voting Action Ruben Michael Montejano is a board member at Equal Vote and the Outreach Coordinator for the STAR Voting California Chapter. He 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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Sara Wolk Executive Director and Secretary at Equal Vote and STAR Voting Action Sara Wolk has been a leading force behind the STAR Voting project since the beginning. Sara was a Chief Petitioner for the first ballot initiative for STAR Voting in Multnomah County and also worked on the STAR Voting for Eugene campaign before taking on her current post as the Executive Director of the Equal Vote Coalition in 2018. With a background in sustainability and design, and a passion for music, adventure, and community organizing, she is dedicated to building the kind of coalition that can heal democracy. Systemic problems require design based solutions. |
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Dean Price Treasurer at Equal Vote and STAR Voting Action
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James "Jas" Davis Board Director at Equal Vote and STAR Voting Action 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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Dr. Keith Edmonds Phd. Board Director at Equal Vote 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. He 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 Dr. Jameson Quinn has been involved in voting reform for over 20 years, and it was the inspiration for him to get his PhD in statistics from Harvard. He helped design the voting method used for nominations for the Hugo Awards, and wrote a paper with Bruce Schneier about the theory and impact of this method. With Mira Bernstein, he co-organized the 2018 British Columbia Symposium on Proportional Representation. He lives in Cambridge, MA. |
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Sass Operations Coordinator and Board Director at Equal Vote Sass began their deep dive into voting method reform in 2020 and quickly discovered a passion for it. They have a relentless passion for 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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Mont Chris Hubbard Board Director at STAR Voting Action Like many, Mont Chris has felt forced to vote "lesser evil" many times, and would prefer that never happen again. Mont Chris is the Secretary-Treasurer of the Musicians Union Local 99 and helped get his union to adopt STAR Voting. When he's not talking about voting methods and unionism to city commissioners, state legislators, or cornered family members at Thanksgiving, Mont Chris enjoys playing music and board games. |
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Mike Franze Board Director at STAR Voting Action 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. Mike graduated from Georgia Tech in 2015 with a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering. |
Coalition Core:
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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." |
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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. |
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STAR Elections STAR Elections was launched in order to meet the demand to help host STAR Voting elections. While hosting your own elections with STAR will always remain free, we also offer election consulting and officiation. All proceeds from STAR Elections go to the STAR Voting Action 501c4 non-profit fund. |