Questions and Answers on STV
What is the Single Transferable Vote?
The Single Transferable Vote (STV) is an electoral system that produced 'proportional representation' (PR) whilst at the same
time giving voters more choice over who their representatives will be.
What is Proportional Representation?
Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system which elects several councillors together in a way that parties
get a share of the seats which reflect their share of the votes. Often this does not happen with the 'first past the post'
system presently used for most government elections.
Why must several councillors be elected together?
Several councillors must be elected together if voters who support different parties are to be represented fairly. If only
one councillor is elected from each ward, only one view or party can be represented. That is why we usually do not get proportional
representation under the present council voting system.
Why the Single Transferable Vote?
Although several councillors are elected together, every voter must have only a single vote so that each vote has the same
effect and to ensure proportional representation. Although each voter has only a single vote, the voters can list, in order
of preference, those candidates they would like to support.
What does a transferable vote mean?
If the candidate who is your first choice does not have enough support to be elected, your vote will be transferred to your
second choice. Similarly, if that candidate does not have enough support, your vote will be transferred to your third choice,
and so on. Also, if a candidate receives more support than he or she needs to be elected, then the candidate's surplus votes
will be transferred to the next preference indicated by the voters.
A benefit of votes being transferable is that the form of tactical voting seen in 'first past the post' elections becomes
unnecessary.
How do I complete an STV ballot paper?
Instead of putting a cross or tick against your favourite candidate, you put a '1' against your first choice of candidate
and can then put a '2' against your second choice, a '3' against your third choice and so on for as many candidates on the
ballot as you want.
What if I only want to vote for only one candidate?
You can, if you wish, show support for only one candidate, but the more candidates for whom you express preferences, the more
likely your vote will influence the outcome of the election. Your candidate will not be disadvantaged if you list other preferences:
these preferences will only be used if your first choice of candidate is either safely elected or eliminated.
How are votes counted at an STV election?
The first step is the calculation of the number of votes which candidates must receive to be elected. This is called the
'quota'.
Ballot papers are then sorted according to the voters' first preferences. Candidates with at least the quota are then declared
elected. The surplus votes (the number of votes in excess of the quota) of these candidates are then transferred to other
candidates according to voters' second preferences. Any new surpluses created by this process are similarly transferred.
If not enough candidates have been elected, the candidate with the lowest number of votes is eliminated and that candidate's
votes are transferred to the (unelected) candidates marked as the next preference by the voters.
The transfer of surpluses and the elimination of candidates continue until the required number of candidates have been elected.
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