A new way to vote would come to future Lane County ballots, if voters approve Measure 20-290 this coming election.

The measure aims to establish STAR — Score Then Automatic Runoff — voting to decide races for nonpartisan Lane County elected offices, such as county commissioners and sheriff.

Here's how STAR voting works, according to the county:

Voters rate candidates from zero to five, with zero the lowest and five the highest preference. Voters may score as few or as many candidates as they want, and they may give the same score to different candidates. Election officials add up the numbers to determine which two candidates received the highest scores. Those two candidates advance to an instant runoff, in which election officials compare their scores on individual ballots and award each ballot based on whom the voter scored higher. The candidate who wins the most ballots wins the race.

Voters would only fill out ballots for candidates in one fall election under STAR voting. The system would replace the current two-election process, which includes a primary election in May and a general election in November, according to the county.

Lane County would become the first local government in the country to elect officeholders using STAR voting if the measure is approved, supporters say.

A group tried to get a similar measure on this year's ballot in Multnomah County, but didn't turn in follow-up paperwork this summer, said Eric Sample, spokesman for Multnomah County Elections. The group started the petition process in January and had to turn in 23,174 signatures by July 19 to secure a spot on the ballot.

In Lane County, supporters of the local measure gathered more than the necessary 11,506 signatures before a June 21 deadline, Lane County Clerk Cheryl Betschart said.

Benton County voters installed a ranked-choice voting system by passing their county election overhaul measure in 2016. The system is similar to STAR voting, but voters assign ranks for candidates and can't rank two the same.

Measure 20-290 co-petitioner Mark Frohnmayer said the current voting system in Lane County and most other parts of the United States limits voters to just one choice of candidate on the ballot.

"What that means is that anytime there are more than two choices the vote is inherently unequal, and that inequality is actually what leads us to the really crazy, polarized politics that we have today," he said. "When you can only make one choice it always 'us' versus 'them.'"

Opponents argue that the STAR voting system needs to be tested more before deciding county elections.

If Measure 20-290 passes, Lane County would use STAR voting to decide the county assessor and justice of the peace, along with county commissioners and sheriff, Betschart said.

The STAR voting concept is homegrown, coming out of a 2014 conference of voting experts. Frohnmayer is the son of former Oregon Attorney General and University of Oregon President Dave Frohnmayer, and he's also president of Arcimoto, an electric vehicle startup company based in the Whiteaker neighborhood.

"This is really for voters who have opinions on more than one candidate and don't want to get stuck in any kind of 'spoiler' dilemma, where they have to choose between a candidate they really like and a candidate they like a little less but maybe have a better chance at winning," Alan Zundel, co-petitioner for Measure 20-290, told The Register-Guard earlier this year.

Follow Dylan Darling on Twitter @DylanJDarling. Email dd@registerguard.com.