Single Transferable Vote (STV) system

- an explanation of how to allocate seats using STV

The Single Transferable Vote seat allocation system is a
preferential voting system where voters vote for
candidates in the sequence they would like to see them
elected.
It provides a method of Proportional Representation for
multi-seat constituencies (districts/regions/zones) using the
sequential preference of the voters eg to elect 5 district
representatives from a ballot of 10 names.
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2009 Peter Clayton, All Rights Reserved

Basics of the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system

STV initially allocates the voters vote to their first candidate of choice.

If their vote was

(1) un-needed (because their preferred candidate already has enough
votes to get elected)
or
(2) un-used (because their preferred candidate can not be elected and has
been eliminated)
then their votes are transferred to their next choice of candidate.

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2009 Peter Clayton, All Rights Reserved

Voting options that could be used

when using STV:
1. The voter must choose an exact number of
candidates.
2. The voter chooses up to a maximum number
of candidates.
3. The voter must choose a minimum number
of candidates.
4. The voter can choose as many candidates in
sequence that they want to.

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continue
2009 Peter Clayton, All Rights Reserved

Sample ballot for STV

Ballot design for STV
The ballot for the Single Transferable Vote system requires the voter to mark their order of
preference eg 1 for their first choice, 2 for their second, etc.

Mark the following candidates in your

order of preference:
John Smith
Jane Doe

Parties will normally

supply as many
candidates as there are
available seats. The
party names or symbols
can appear next to the
name to help voters in
their choice.

Jan Clark
Jean Forest
Jack Brown

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2009 Peter Clayton, All Rights Reserved

Calculating a Quota value for deciding if a

candidate has won a seat under STV
Quota Calculation
To decide when a particular candidate is elected they need to
accumulate enough votes to meet a certain criteria. This quota
value needs to be calculated.
The most common quota used is the Droop Quota:

The use of this quota will be demonstrated in the following

example.
Note that one method for electing a single person by the
STV method is to use a quota that is exactly half of the
total votes.

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to continue

2009 Peter Clayton, All Rights Reserved

Example of using STV

Number

Sequence of candidates on each ballot

3

of ballots

JD

JS

JF

JD

JC

JS

JD

JC

JC

JS

JF

JD

JB

26 ballots

JB

JF

JC

JS

JD

25 ballots

JB

JD

JC

JF

JS

1 ballot

John Smith (JS)

53 ballots
JS

JB

27 ballots
5 ballots

Jane Doe (JD)

Jan Clark (JC)
Jean Forest (JF)
Jack Brown (JB)

This is a simple example of how the STV system is used to allocated votes based

This on
is apreferential
simple example
of how the STV system works.
voting, by re-allocating votes from elected and eliminated

accumulated
votes
the
quota and
that
is
There areseeking
now
nomeet
more
candidates
with
ancandidate
accumulated
The candidates
example isuntil
for the
5The
candidates
to
be
elected,
shown
in
the
top
The
Count
There
additional
surplus
up
is
now
the
votes
votes
total
only
over
from
of
candidate
first
the
JD
threshold
preference
have
left
now
(JC)
value
increased
votes
so
for
they
for
Jane
win
each
JSs
The
additional
votes
from
JB have now increasedthe
JFs
elected.
number
of
votes
above
the
Quota.
right box. There are only
4
seats
available
and
STV
will
be
used
to
allocate
vote
Doe
candidate.
last
count
(JD)
seat.
are
above
allocated
the the
Quota
toQuota
the
value
second
so they
preference
are are
nowfor
vote
count
above
value
so they
now
The above
example
is
quite
simple
in
that
it
does
not
show
the
complete
range
of
the seats
according
to
their
preferential
votes.
time
eliminate
the
candidate
with
thesurplus
least
elected
those
ballots.
in
the
second
The
53 of
round.
ballots
Their
for
JDown
give
surplus
a
votes,
of then
IfThis
the
total
number
votes
isTheir
more
than
the
Quota
elected
inwe
the
fourth
round.
own
surplus
votes,
combinations of selection
sequences
but it(iedoes
explain
thetheir
process
-ballot
normally
the
accumulated
votes
JB)
and
share
votes
out according
(29.6-28.4)
(53-28.4)
=
=
24.6
1.2
votes,
votes.
are
You
now
can
transferred
see
from
the
to
the
next
they
are
immediately
elected.
(52-28.4)
=
23.6
vote,
are
now
transferred
to
the
next
The vote
box in
the top left
many
the 137
ballots
were
marked
with
re-allocation
is shows
done
in how
allsecond
cases
by of
sharing
out
the
surplus
to their
preference
25
votes
to
JFballots
and
1 votes
to JC.
un-elected
sequence
on
candidate
line
one
by
that
preference,
JS
is
the
next
in
this
in
case
the
JC
un-elected
candidate
byaccumulated
preference,
in53this
case
JC
eachproportionally
of the sequences
shown.
Eg
on
the
first
line:
there
were
ballots
to the next
choice
candidates.
add
those
votes
to the
votes
for
those
InWe
the
example
above,
only
Jane
Doe
(JD)
has
more
because
sequence
JD
so
has
those
already
ballots
been
are
elected.
transferred
JCs
to
total
their
now
total:
(28.2+23.6=51.8)
everyone
else
has been
electedClick
or to
which all have JD marked
aspreference
1 andJC
JS27.2+1=28.2,
as
2aswith
nothan
other
people
marked.
candidates:
JF:
27+25=52
first
votes
(53)
the
quota
(28.4)
so
is
The process for doing
this
with
can take
a to
lotbecome
of time but
works in a continue
changes
(5 27
+eliminated.
24.6)
from
=real
29.6
26ballots
by adding
1.2
27.2.
The similar
secondway.
line shows
ballots
marked
as
JF,
JD,
JC,
JS,
JB.
elected immediately.
2009 Peter Clayton, All Rights Reserved

Methods of counting for STV

There are a number of techniques for counting STV ballots, most are
designed for making manual counting easier but can slightly distort
the vote.

When re-allocating surplus ballots from a winning/eliminated

candidate one method is to divide the surplus ballots proportionately
with the number of next choice candidates

When re-allocating surplus ballots from a winning/eliminated

candidate another method is to select those surplus ballots at
random from the pile of their surplus votes and allocate them to the
next choice.

Computer systems could be used in future to decrease the distortion of

the vote counting, such as using a weighting system of next choice
candidates.
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2009 Peter Clayton, All Rights Reserved

Advantages of STV:
Removes the selection of winning
candidates from political party leaders
when using closed lists.
The voters decide which candidates within
each party and across all parties are
elected.
Gives proportional representation by the
greatest preferences expressed by the
voters so can be judged as the most
democratic system.

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2009 Peter Clayton, All Rights Reserved

Potential problems with STV:

Without good voter education there can be a lot of spoiled ballots.

It is difficult and time consuming to divide surplus ballots proportionately between
the next choice candidates.
If the next choice candidate has already been elected/eliminated for a
particular ballot then a decision needs to be made on if to count the second next
choice candidate as having the same value as the next choice candidate on
another ballot or if to include a complicated and arbitrary weighting system.
It is possible due to the quota system that someone wins by accumulating more
purely second and third preference votes than another candidate with purely first
preference seats. To some people this is un-fair and un-acceptable.
The ballot can be very large (and very expensive) and so it can take voters a
long time to physically select and vote for a large number of candidates:
(One option to reduce the time taken to vote is to allow voters the alternative of
voting for one party instead and the system will then take it that all the
candidates of that party were selected and are chosen in the order already
prepared by the party.)
The position of a candidate on a ballot has a big effect on the sequence the
candidates are selected. Voters find it difficult to vote for large numbers of
candidates in sequence and tend to vote sequentially instead of preferentially
they vote for the candidates they like from the top downwards instead of in
order of their ideal preference. If the list is ordered alphabetically then people are
often said to vote alphabetically instead of preferentially.
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2009 Peter Clayton, All Rights Reserved

Copyright Notice
Copyright 2009 Peter Clayton. All Rights Reserved.
These files for explaining Proportional Representation and other
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