Single Tranferable Vote

Single Tranferable Vote

1. How does it work?

   • Constituencies return more than one member each
     • Parties can put forward as many candidates as there are seats to fill in each constituency
     • Electors vote by ranking candidates in order of preference
       • Don't have to vote for all
       • To get elected, the candidate needs to recieve a certain quota
         • 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
         • 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

2. Proportional Representation

3. Advantages

   • Gives the electorate choice between candidates as well as parties
   • Competition between candidates from the same party means candidates can be judged on their own merits and records rather than by party
   • Multi-member constituencies encourage power sharing
   • Far fewer wasted votes
   • Greater diversity among elected representatives
   • Results in multi-party system

4. Disadvantages

   • Degree of proportionality can vary
   • Single party government unlikely
   • Can be disruptive as it encourages competition amongst members of the same party
   • While voting is straightforward, counting is complex and can take a long time

5. Where's it used?

   • Northern Ireland Assembly
   • Local elections in Northen Ireland and Scotland