How Is STAR Voting Different from Ranked Choice Voting?

Updated

STAR Voting and Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) differ in two fundamental ways: how voters mark their ballots and how those ballots are counted. STAR asks voters to score candidates from 0 to 5 stars, then uses a two-step count — a scoring round to find two finalists, followed by an automatic runoff. RCV asks voters to rank candidates in order of preference, then eliminates the lowest-ranked candidates round by round until someone has a majority. If you want a system that lets you express how much you like each candidate and never requires you to abandon your favorite, STAR is the more expressive option. If you want a system already used in many U.S. cities and states, RCV has the longer track record.

How the ballots differ

STAR Voting Ranked Choice Voting
What voters do Score each candidate 0–5 stars Rank candidates 1st, 2nd, 3rd…
Equal scores allowed? Yes No — each rank is distinct
Can you skip candidates? Yes (leave blank = 0) Typically yes, but ranking fewer candidates limits your influence
Expressing intensity Yes — 5 stars vs. 3 stars is meaningful No — ranking only shows order, not strength

With STAR, giving your favorite five stars and your least favorite zero is the recommended approach, and you can give multiple candidates the same score. With RCV, you order candidates, and your ballot transfers to your next choice only when your current choice is eliminated.

How the counting differs

STAR Voting works in two stages, as described on starvoting.org:

  1. Scoring round — All ballots are tallied by score. The two candidates with the highest total scores become finalists.
  2. Automatic runoff — Every ballot is then applied to the two finalists. Your vote automatically goes to whichever finalist you scored higher. The finalist with the most votes wins.

Ranked Choice Voting works by elimination:

  1. Count first-choice votes.
  2. If no candidate has a majority, eliminate the last-place candidate.
  3. Transfer those ballots to the next ranked choice.
  4. Repeat until a candidate has a majority.

The key mechanical difference: STAR always compares the final two head-to-head using every voter's preference between them. RCV can eliminate a broadly acceptable candidate early because they weren't enough voters' first choice, even if they would have beaten the eventual winner head-to-head.

Strategic voting and vote-splitting

starvoting.org states that STAR Voting "prevents vote-splitting and makes it safe to vote your conscience," and that "strategic voting is not incentivized." Because you can give your favorite five stars without hurting your second choice — and your runoff vote goes to whichever finalist you prefer — there's no penalty for honestly supporting a less popular candidate.

RCV reduces the "spoiler" problem compared to plurality voting, but it can still create incentives to rank a compromise candidate first if you fear your true favorite will be eliminated and your ballot won't transfer usefully. This is sometimes called a "push-over" or compromise-ranking dynamic.

Representation and accuracy claims

The starvoting.org site claims STAR is "vetted and peer-reviewed, topping the charts in all studies of accuracy and representativeness," and that it "elects majority-preferred winners whenever possible." These are the organization's characterizations of the research, not neutral findings — treat them as the advocacy position of the Equal Vote Coalition, which runs the site.

RCV, by contrast, has been adopted in jurisdictions including Maine and New York City, giving it a real-world track record that STAR largely lacks at the governmental level. That track record cuts both ways: it demonstrates feasibility, but it has also surfaced implementation issues (longer counts, ballot exhaustion) that STAR's simpler two-round structure is designed to avoid.

Which should you prefer?

  • Choose STAR if you want voters to express intensity of preference, you want a system where voting your honest favorite is never punished, and you're persuaded by the accuracy research the site cites.
  • Choose RCV if you value an existing track record in real elections, simpler ballot instructions for voters accustomed to ranking, and broader institutional familiarity.
  • Either way, both are major departures from plurality voting and both address the spoiler problem — the choice comes down to whether you prioritize scoring expressiveness (STAR) or established use (RCV).

For the full mechanics and the organization's own comparison, see the "How is this different from Ranked Choice Voting?" section and FAQ on starvoting.org.