gen-release-vote.py expects the refs/remotes/upstream/master branch exists in the current clone.
https://github.com/apache/openwhisk-release/blob/master/tools/gen-release-vote.py#L91
This is not the case when using a simple clone of the openwhisk-release repo.
The script could use better documentation, e.g., an example invocation. See
https://github.com/apache/openwhisk-release/blob/master/docs/release_instructions.md#initiate-a-release-vote.