Single Tranferable Vote

How does it work?
1. Constituencies return more than one member each
  1. Parties can put forward as many candidates as there are seats to fill in each constituency
  2. Electors vote by ranking candidates in order of preference
    1. Don't have to vote for all
    2. To get elected, the candidate needs to recieve a certain quota
      1. Droop Quota - total number of votes cast/(number of seats to be filled + 1) +1
        Example - if 100,000 people voted in a constituency of Northern Ireland the quota would be 100,000/6+1 +1 = 14,281 needed to be elected
      2. Votes are counted by first choice
        Once a candidate has gained the quota, any surplus votes are transferred to second placed candidates and so on
        This is repeated each time a candidate gains enough votes to be elected
        If a candidate recieves insufficient first choice votes and is eliminated, all the votes for that candidate are redistributed to the second-placed candidate on the ballot
Proportional Representation
Advantages
1. Gives the electorate choice between candidates as well as parties
2. Competition between candidates from the same party means candidates can be judged on their own merits and records rather than by party
3. Multi-member constituencies encourage power sharing
4. Far fewer wasted votes
5. Greater diversity among elected representatives
6. Results in multi-party system
Disadvantages
1. Degree of proportionality can vary
2. Single party government unlikely
3. Can be disruptive as it encourages competition amongst members of the same party
4. While voting is straightforward, counting is complex and can take a long time
Where's it used?
1. Northern Ireland Assembly
2. Local elections in Northen Ireland and Scotland

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Single Tranferable Vote

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	Created by Abbie Fisher almost 11 years ago