History and use of the Single Transferable Vote
Encyclopedia
The history and usage of the Single Transferable Vote voting system
has been a series of relatively modest periods of usage and disusage throughout the world, however today it is seeing increasing popularity and proposed implementation as a method of electoral reform
. The Single Transferable Vote
has been used in many different local, regional and national electoral systems, as well as in various other types of bodies, around the world.
in 1819. The system remained unused in public elections until 1855, when Carl Andræ proposed a transferable vote system for elections in Denmark
. Andræ's system was used in 1856 to elect the Danish Rigsdag
, and by 1866 it was also adapted for indirect elections to the second chamber, the Landsting
, until 1915.
Although he was not the first to propose a system of transferable votes, the English barrister
Thomas Hare is generally credited with the conception of Single Transferable Voting, and he may have independently developed the idea in 1857. Hare's view was that STV should be a means of "making the exercise of the suffrage a step in the elevation of the individual character, whether it be found in the majority or the minority." In Hare's original STV system, he further proposed that electors should have the opportunity of discovering which candidate their vote had ultimately counted for, to improve their personal connection with voting.
The noted political essayist, John Stuart Mill
, was a friend of Hare and an early proponent of STV, praising it in his essay "On Representation." His contemporary, Walter Bagehot
, also praised the Hare system for allowing everyone to elect an MP, even ideological minorities, but also added that the Hare system would create more problems than it solved: "[the Hare system] is inconsistent with the extrinsic independence as well as the inherent moderation of a Parliament - two of the conditions we have seen, are essential to the bare possibility of parliamentary government."
STV spread through the British Empire
, leading it to be sometimes known as British Proportional Representation. In 1896, Andrew Inglis Clark
was successful in persuading the Tasmanian House of Assembly
to adopt what became known as the Hare-Clark system, named after himself and Thomas Hare.
In the twentieth century many refinements were made to Hare's original system, by scholars such as Droop, Meek, Warren and Tideman (see: Counting Single Transferable Votes
for further details).
, with the exception of single-winner elections (presidential
elections and single-vacancy by-elections) which are conducted under Instant Run-off Voting
(that is, an STV election in which there is only a single winner). The most important elections in the Republic are those to Dáil Éireann
, the lower house
of the Oireachtas
(parliament). The Dáil is directly elected from constituencies of between three and five seats. The Irish constitution
specifies a minimum size of three seats and, although there is no maximum size, there have been no constituencies of more than five seats since 1947.
In the Senate
, the weak upper house, six University seats are filled from two three-seat constituencies, while 43 vocational panel seats are filled on a restricted franchise from five panels of up to eleven seats. The panel election rules depart from true STV by requiring a minimum number of candidates to be elected from each of two sub-panels; in the 2007 Cultural and Educational Panel election Ann Ormonde
was elected despite having fewer votes than Terence Slowey when Slowey was eliminated.
STV is also used in local and European elections. In elections in the Republic voters are permitted to rank as many or as few candidates as they wish on the ballot paper. All direct elections and are counted by hand; an experiment using computer ballots in three constituencies in the 2002 general election
was not repeated. All use the simple Hare method of surplus transfers, except for the Senate panels, which use the Gregory method.
STV is also widely used among private organisations, such as student unions.
in 1918, following the recommendation of a Speaker of the House of Commons conference on electoral reform in 1917. Although efforts to introduce STV across the UK had been abandoned, STV was adopted for use in local elections in Sligo
in that year, as well to elect the two Members of Parliament returned by the University of Dublin constituency; STV was extended to all Irish local elections later. STV was then used in the Irish general elections of 1921
, and subsequently adopted for all elections by the Irish Free State
in 1922. Part of the reason for this was to ensure that the new state's Protestant/Unionist minority received adequate representation in the legislature, but this did not occur in practice.
Initially 46% of Dáil members were elected from constituencies of seven, eight or nine seats, until 1935 when seven seats became the largest size. Since 1947 Dáil constituencies have been no larger than five seats. The First Seanad
, the senate that existed during the Free State, was originally intended to be directly elected in a popular vote. However this plan was abandoned within a few years so that only one direct senatorial election was ever held. This occurred in 17 September 1925 when, in an event without historical or international parallel, the whole state voted as a single nineteen seat constituency. In the election the ballot paper listed of over seventy candidates, and the count took approximately two weeks to complete. The ultimate results, contrary to the results that might have occurred under a List PR system, strongly favoured non-party candidates.
Two attempts have been made by Fianna Fáil
governments to abolish STV and replace it with the 'First Past the Post' plurality system. Both attempts were rejected by voters in referendums held in 1959 and again in 1968. In the past, gerrymandering
was also attempted by several governments, in particular by varying the sizes (that is, the number of seats) of particular constituencies. This attempt backfired, however, in the 1977 general election
when a larger than expected vote-swing caused a tipping effect resulting in disproportionate losses for the government. This botched attempt at Gerrymandering became known as the "Tullymander" after minister James Tully. Today constituencies are drawn up by an independent commission. Contrary to the common experience with proportional representation, single party (Fianna Fáil) governments were common in the Republic after the maximum constituency size was cut to five seats, holding power in 23 of the 33 years from 1948 to 1981. However since the 1981 general election
coalitions have been the rule.
The Hare-Clark System is used in Tasmania
's House of Assembly
and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT)
Legislative Assembly
. This is essentially the system described above using the Droop quota (not the Hare quota
), but candidates' placements, within the column for each party, are randomised by Robson Rotation
rather than alphabetical. Casual vacancies are filled by countback.
'The Group-Voting or Ticket-Voting system is used in the Australian Senate
and the Legislative Council
s of New South Wales
, Victoria
(from 2006), Western Australia
and South Australia
. The votes are counted in the basically same way as under Hare-Clark, but when casting votes, voters have the option of selecting one single group voting ticket
instead of numbering individual candidates below the line. Groups of candidates (usually, but not inevitably, corresponding to political parties) may each pre-register one ranked list of all the candidates (or, in some systems, two lists) and the votes above the line for each ticket are deemed to have numbered the candidates in the order pre-specified on the team's list (if the team lodged two lists, 50% of the votes go to each version). Casual vacancies are usually filled by the parliament itself, though MPS may be required by law or convention to select a nominee of the out-going member’s party.
Each form has its pros and cons. The Hare-Clark system with Robson Rotation is advocated on the grounds that the effect of 'donkey voting' is reduced because of the randomised ordering, and the absence of the group voting ticket
s creates more personal accountability. The alternative system is advocated on the grounds that informal voting (spoiled ballots) is reduced because only one number need be written; on the other hand, it greatly increases the potential for tactics by parties as they have direct control of a large percentage of the vote. In the Australian Senate elections, nearly 95% of voters use the group voting tickets instead of ranking their own preferences. As a result, the informal rate reduced from around 10 percent, to around three percent.
, the province of British Columbia
has experimented with alternate forms of balloting and has recently considered reforming its first-past-the-post
system. Throughout the 1940s, the province had been governed by a coalition
of the Conservative
and Liberal parties. Neither party had sufficient electoral support to form government alone, and the coalition allowed these parties to keep the left-of-centre Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
(CCF) out of power.
By the 1950s, the coalition had begun to fall apart, resulting in the Conservatives and Liberals having to run for office separately under their own party banners. However, in order to ensure that the CCF was prevented from taking power, one of the last acts of the coalition government was to introduce an alternative voting system (known today in the USA as instant-runoff voting
), which was implemented for the 1952 general election
.
Rather than voting for one candidate by marking an “x” on their ballots, electors would rank their choices for the candidates running in their constituency by placing numbers next to the names of the candidates on the ballot. If a candidate received a majority of votes cast, that candidate would be elected. If not, the candidate with the least number of votes was dropped and the second choices were allocated among the remaining candidates. This procedure would be repeated until a candidate received a majority of votes.
The unexpected result of using this voting method was the election of enough candidates of a new party, Social Credit
(also known as “SoCreds”). This resulted in the SoCreds forming a minority government
, with the CCF forming the official opposition
. The Liberals were reduced to four members in the Legislature
. The Conservatives (who changed their name to “Progressive Conservative”
in tandem with their federal counterparts) were reduced to three.
The SoCred minority government lasted only nine months. The alternate voting system was again employed for the resulting general election. The result was a SoCred majority. During this term of office, the SoCreds abolished the new voting system and returned the province to the traditional voting system.
Electoral reform became an issue again in the 1990s, particularly after the NDP was re-elected in the 1996 election
. While the NDP won a majority of seats, the opposition Liberals had won a larger share of the popular vote. After the Liberals won the 2001 election
, they created the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform
.
The Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform surprised many when it proposed an STV electoral model called BC-STV
and recommended it to the electorate. In the ensuing electoral reform referendum
held on May 17, 2005, BC-STV achieved a majority 57.7% Yes support. However, this did not give it the 60% province-wide support set as a requirement by the government
(British Columbia Liberal Party
) for the referendum outcome to be automatically binding. Nevertheless, the simple majorities in 77 ridings (of 79) far exceeded the 48 ridings that was also a requirement set by the government
(British Columbia Liberal Party
).
Due to the evident support for electoral reform, the re-elected BC Liberal
government announced in the Throne Speech on September 12, 2005, that the public of British Columbia would get a second referendum on STV in November 2008. This was later rescheduled: the second referendum on electoral reform was then planned to be held in conjunction with the May 12, 2009 provincial general election. In the interim, the Electoral Boundaries Commission designed new boundaries for both FPTP and STV. Both supporting and opposing sides of the referendum campaign received government funding to help educate the public in time for the referendum.
In contrast to the 2005 vote, which saw 57.7% of voters in favour of STV, the STV initiative was then defeated on May 12, 2009 with only 39% of voters in support.
during the 39th Parliament - 1st Session
(April 3, 2006-Sept. 14, 2007)), STV would be used for consultative elections of Senators.
, the upper house of the federal parliament. The Rajya Sabha consists of 250 members: twelve are nominated by the President of India
while the remainder are elected using STV by members of the legislatures of the states and the union territories
. The number of members of the Rajya Sabha elected by each state and union territory is loosely proportionate to its population, such that, , Bihar
, with a population of 82 millions, is represented by 22 members, while Sikkim
, with a population of 540,000 is represented by just one member.
In addition, the federal President and Vice-President are indirectly elected by MPs using Alternative Vote, which is STV applied to one vacancy at a time.
. However, top-up seats (similar to the additional member system
) may be added in the national parliament to ensure that a party with a majority of first-preference votes wins a majority of seats. This was a response to the controversial election in 1981 when the Nationalist Party
won 51% of the first-preference vote but the Labour Party
won a majority of the seats. Some subsequently accused Labour of having gerrymandered the 5-seat constituencies: 8 had narrowly split 3:2 in its favour, while 5 had more widely split 3:2 in favour of the Nationalists. The top-up rule was also invoked in 1987 for the benefit of the Nationalists and in 1996 for the benefit of the Labour Party.
The Maltese electorate largely does not take advantage of the cross-party voting opportunities provided by STV. Almost all voters give preferences to all the candidates from one of the two major parties, but do not give preferences to candidates from the other party. Third parties, meanwhile, get minimal support. The effect of this voting pattern is similar to a tight two-party open list
PR system simultaneously using STV within each party to decide its representatives whilst using the indicated first preference candidate's party as the voter's preferred party. Because of the transfer behaviour of the voters, each party can stand many more candidates than there are winners in total without being adversely affected. Strangely, some candidates stand and are elected in more than one constituency, leading to vacancies filled by countback
STV is used in elections to small number of local authorities and in all elections for District Health Boards. The count is conducted using Meek's method. District Health Boards consist of a mixture of appointed and elected members. The vast majority of local authorities use plurality at large
(bloc voting) instead of STV. Current use of STV was introduced by the Local Electoral Act 2001 and began with elections to local councils and District Health Boards in October 2004
During the 20th century STV was used for elections to the Christchurch City Council
in 1917, 1929, 1931 and 1933, and for Woolston Borough Council
in 1917 and 1919. In business, Fonterra
used STV for their Board of Directors and Shareholders' Council elections in 2002. The Local Electoral Act 2001 provided that STV was mandatory for District Health Board elections but offered local councils the choice of either staying with plurality at large or changing to STV. It also provided for a binding poll of voters in an area to be held to determine the which system would be used, either at the initiative of the council or by a citizen's initiative
instigated by voters in an area. In practice very few local authorities adopted STV under the Act's provisions, and in those that did the use of STV was plagued by poor explanations of the STV process, which often gave little more information than an algorithmic description of how to place a vote. This left the unfortunate impression among voters that STV was little more than a gratuitously complex equivalent to existing voting mechanisms. Nonetheless New Zealand made history by becoming the first country in the world to use the advanced Meek's method of STV.
In the 2004 elections 81 STV elections occurred, but two were not contested. Confusion was caused by the fact that some local elections included ballots for multiple local government bodies, some of which were conducted by single-winner plurality ('first past the post'), some by plurality at large, and some by STV. An example of the confusion among voters was one result from the 2007 elections, in which the first place went to blank or incomplete voting forms and the fourth place went to incorrectly filled-out forms. The actual candidates came in at places two and three. Due to low voter turnout, the high number of spoilt votes and the long time taken for results to be declared, the Justice and Electoral Committee of the New Zealand Parliament has undertaken an inquiry into the use of STV in New Zealand.
at Westminster
but is used for all Assembly
, European and local government elections in Northern Ireland
, and for local elections in Scotland
. In Northern Ireland, Assembly elections involve six-seat constituencies, while local elections currently use constituencies of between five and seven seats. For European elections Northern Ireland serves as a single three-seat constituency. Local elections in Scotland use constituencies of three or four seats. All official STV elections in the UK use the Gregory method of counting votes.
STV is also used by many private organisations. For example, it is used in many British university students' union
s (and promoted by the National Union of Students as the fairest way of running elections), for all elections within the University of Cambridge
and for electing board members in The Co-operative Group
.
As noted above, because it was invented by the Englishman Thomas Hare and has been used in many parts of the former British Empire, STV has in the past been referred to as "British proportional representation". Nonetheless it has never been used by more than a handful of constituencies in the British Parliament. In 1917, the Speaker's Conference in the United Kingdom
advocated the adoption of STV for 211 of the 569 constituencies in the UK, and instant-runoff voting
for the rest. Although the House of Commons
voted in favour of the proposals five times, the House of Lords continually rejected it until the nationwide effort was ultimately abandoned in parliament. Nonetheless in 1918 STV was adopted for the university constituencies of Cambridge
, Oxford
, Combined English Universities
, Combined Scottish Universities and Dublin University; these constituencies continued to use STV until their abolition in 1950 (or 1922 in the case of Dublin University). STV was also introduced for local elections in the Irish borough of Sligo
in 1918, and extended to all Irish local government shortly afterwards.
In 1921 the UK government attempted to establish two home rule
parliaments in Ireland
–the Parliament of Southern Ireland
and the Parliament of Northern Ireland
–with the Irish general elections of 1921
, both of which were conducted using STV. The intention of using STV in Ireland was partly to ensure adequate representation for the Catholic minority in the North and the Protestant minority in the South. Southern Ireland seceded from the UK in 1921 but today, as the Republic of Ireland
, continues to use STV for all of its elections. The Northern Ireland Parliament continued to use STV until the late 1920s when it switched to the first past the post plurality system. However STV was reintroduced there after the imposition of direct rule in 1973, and is now in use for all elections except those to Westminster.
In Scotland, following the passage of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act
on 23 June 2004, all local governments have used STV to elect their councillors since 2007. In Wales
, the Richard Commission recommended in March 2004 changing the electoral system for the National Assembly for Wales
to the Single Transferable Vote. However, in the white paper Better Governance for Wales published on 15 June 2005, the UK Government, without giving reasons, rejected Richard's recommendation to change the electoral system.
. However STV enjoyed a period of popularity in the United States
in the first half of the twentieth century.
Twenty-two American cities have used STV for local elections. It was used for the election of the nine member City Council of Cincinnati, Ohio
from 1924 to 1957, and was also used in Cleveland, Ohio
and Sacramento, California
. New York City
adopted STV in 1936 as a method for breaking the corrupt political machine
of Tammany Hall
dominating the city and used it for five elections in 1937 to 1945. Reform opponents regularly challenged STV after its successes. Only two of the first 24 repeal efforts in cities around the nation were successful, but after World War II
, harsh campaigns against STV were successfully carried out after African-Americans and political minorities such as Communists and urban Republicans
began winning seats, even though they only constituted a minority group in government. After STV's removal and subsequent reversion to the current FPTP in New York in 1947, the Democratic Party
immediately regained near unanimous control of municipal elections with Tammany Hall quickly returning to political dominance until its ultimate downfall in the mid 1960s
. STV has also been used in the election of New York City community school board members.
Today there are campaigns in some cities to introduce STV. Minneapolis, Minnesota
voted in 2006 to adopt STV for certain city elections starting in 2009, while Davis, California passed an advisory referendum to use STV for future city council elections. The community school boards of the City of New York used STV until the school boards themselves were abolished in 2002. The city of San Francisco
in 1996 considered multimember STV in a referendum
; this effort failed, with the city instead voting for district elections and, in 2002, adopting instant runoff voting. Cincinnati also narrowly failed to restore STV for city council elections in citizen initiatives in 1988 and 1991.
The Single Transferable Vote has become increasingly used at American universities
for student elections. , the schools of Harvard, Princeton
, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, Vassar
, Reed
, and Whitman
all use STV, and several other universities are considering its adoption.
elections and those of their constituent members are under the system. It is used as well by ESIB – The National Unions of Students in Europe. It is used in several political parties for internal elections such as the British Liberal-Democrats, all the British Green Parties, the Green Party of the United States and the Green Party of California
. It is also used to elect members of the General Synod of the Church of England
. The UK Royal Statistical Society
uses STV with Meek's method to elect their council. Some Unitarian
Church groups have used Single Transferable Vote to select projects for funding. Twin Oaks Community uses a version of STV they call Movable Money Votes to elect projects and set their budgets. The US-Based Pacifica Radio
Network uses STV to elect its station governing boards.
The Object Management Group (OMG)
uses STV for their Architecture Board (AB) elections.
The selection of nominees for Academy Awards
is via an STV ballot of the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
. Differences from STV are that voters may only rank five as many choices as nominees (five for most categories, with ten for best picture), and that at least one first preference is required for a candidate to be successful. Selection of a winner from among the nominees is done using plurality voting.
Voting system
A voting system or electoral system is a method by which voters make a choice between options, often in an election or on a policy referendum....
has been a series of relatively modest periods of usage and disusage throughout the world, however today it is seeing increasing popularity and proposed implementation as a method of electoral reform
Electoral reform
Electoral reform is change in electoral systems to improve how public desires are expressed in election results. That can include reforms of:...
. The Single Transferable Vote
Single transferable vote
The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...
has been used in many different local, regional and national electoral systems, as well as in various other types of bodies, around the world.
Early history
The concept of transferable voting was first proposed by Thomas Wright HillThomas Wright Hill
Thomas Wright Hill was a mathematician and schoolmaster. He is credited as inventing the single transferable vote in 1819...
in 1819. The system remained unused in public elections until 1855, when Carl Andræ proposed a transferable vote system for elections in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. Andræ's system was used in 1856 to elect the Danish Rigsdag
Rigsdag
Rigsdagen was the name of the Parliament of Denmark from 1849 to 1953.Rigsdagen was Denmark's first parliament, and it was incorporated in the Constitution of 1849. It was a bicameral legislature, consisting of two houses, the Folketing and the Landsting. The distinction between the two houses was...
, and by 1866 it was also adapted for indirect elections to the second chamber, the Landsting
Landsting (Denmark)
The Landsting was a house of the Rigsdag in Denmark from 1849 until 1953, when the bicameral system was abolished. The house had powers equal to the Folketing, which made the two houses of parliament hard to distinguish....
, until 1915.
Although he was not the first to propose a system of transferable votes, the English barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
Thomas Hare is generally credited with the conception of Single Transferable Voting, and he may have independently developed the idea in 1857. Hare's view was that STV should be a means of "making the exercise of the suffrage a step in the elevation of the individual character, whether it be found in the majority or the minority." In Hare's original STV system, he further proposed that electors should have the opportunity of discovering which candidate their vote had ultimately counted for, to improve their personal connection with voting.
The noted political essayist, John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill was a British philosopher, economist and civil servant. An influential contributor to social theory, political theory, and political economy, his conception of liberty justified the freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state control. He was a proponent of...
, was a friend of Hare and an early proponent of STV, praising it in his essay "On Representation." His contemporary, Walter Bagehot
Walter Bagehot
Walter Bagehot was an English businessman, essayist, and journalist who wrote extensively about literature, government, and economic affairs.-Early years:...
, also praised the Hare system for allowing everyone to elect an MP, even ideological minorities, but also added that the Hare system would create more problems than it solved: "[the Hare system] is inconsistent with the extrinsic independence as well as the inherent moderation of a Parliament - two of the conditions we have seen, are essential to the bare possibility of parliamentary government."
STV spread through the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
, leading it to be sometimes known as British Proportional Representation. In 1896, Andrew Inglis Clark
Andrew Inglis Clark
Andrew Inglis Clark was an Australian barrister, politician, electoral reformer and jurist. He initially qualified engineer, however he re-trained as a barrister in order to effectively fight for social causes which deeply concerned him...
was successful in persuading the Tasmanian House of Assembly
Tasmanian House of Assembly
The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council or Upper House...
to adopt what became known as the Hare-Clark system, named after himself and Thomas Hare.
In the twentieth century many refinements were made to Hare's original system, by scholars such as Droop, Meek, Warren and Tideman (see: Counting Single Transferable Votes
Counting Single Transferable Votes
The single transferable vote is a voting system based on proportional representation and preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most-preferred candidate...
for further details).
Republic of Ireland
Proportional representation by means of the Single Transferable Vote is used for all public elections in the Republic of IrelandRepublic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, with the exception of single-winner elections (presidential
President of Ireland
The President of Ireland is the head of state of Ireland. The President is usually directly elected by the people for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain limited powers with absolute...
elections and single-vacancy by-elections) which are conducted under Instant Run-off Voting
Instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting , also known as preferential voting, the alternative vote and ranked choice voting, is a voting system used to elect one winner. Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and their ballots are counted as one vote for their first choice candidate. If a candidate secures a...
(that is, an STV election in which there is only a single winner). The most important elections in the Republic are those to Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...
, the lower house
Lower house
A lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house.Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide the lower house has come to wield more power...
of the Oireachtas
Oireachtas
The Oireachtas , sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the "national parliament" or legislature of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of:*The President of Ireland*The two Houses of the Oireachtas :**Dáil Éireann...
(parliament). The Dáil is directly elected from constituencies of between three and five seats. The Irish constitution
Constitution of Ireland
The Constitution of Ireland is the fundamental law of the Irish state. The constitution falls broadly within the liberal democratic tradition. It establishes an independent state based on a system of representative democracy and guarantees certain fundamental rights, along with a popularly elected...
specifies a minimum size of three seats and, although there is no maximum size, there have been no constituencies of more than five seats since 1947.
In the Senate
Seanad Éireann
Seanad Éireann is the upper house of the Oireachtas , which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann . It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its members Senators or Seanadóirí . Unlike Dáil Éireann, it is not directly elected but consists of a mixture of members chosen by...
, the weak upper house, six University seats are filled from two three-seat constituencies, while 43 vocational panel seats are filled on a restricted franchise from five panels of up to eleven seats. The panel election rules depart from true STV by requiring a minimum number of candidates to be elected from each of two sub-panels; in the 2007 Cultural and Educational Panel election Ann Ormonde
Ann Ormonde
Ann Ormonde is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician and was a member of Seanad Éireann from 1993 to 2011. She was elected by the Cultural and Educational Panel...
was elected despite having fewer votes than Terence Slowey when Slowey was eliminated.
STV is also used in local and European elections. In elections in the Republic voters are permitted to rank as many or as few candidates as they wish on the ballot paper. All direct elections and are counted by hand; an experiment using computer ballots in three constituencies in the 2002 general election
Irish general election, 2002
The Irish general election of 2002 was held on Friday, 17 May 2002 just over three weeks after the dissolution of the 28th Dáil on Thursday 25 April by President Mary McAleese, at the request of the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern...
was not repeated. All use the simple Hare method of surplus transfers, except for the Senate panels, which use the Gregory method.
STV is also widely used among private organisations, such as student unions.
| Body elected | Vacancies | Seats/constituency |
|---|---|---|
| Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote... |
By-election By-election A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections.... using IRV Instant-runoff voting Instant-runoff voting , also known as preferential voting, the alternative vote and ranked choice voting, is a voting system used to elect one winner. Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and their ballots are counted as one vote for their first choice candidate. If a candidate secures a... |
3-5 |
| Local government Local government in the Republic of Ireland Local government functions in the Republic of Ireland are mostly exercised by thirty-four local authorities, termed county or city councils, which cover the entire territory of the state. The area under the jurisdiction of each of these authorities corresponds to the area of each of the 34 LAU I... |
Co-option Co-option A co-opting or less frequently co-optation most commonly refers to action performed in a number of fields whereby an opponent is nullified or neutralized by absorption but there are other distinct senses as well.... |
3-7 |
| European Parliament European Parliament The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world... |
Replacement list | 3 |
History
STV was first used in IrelandIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
in 1918, following the recommendation of a Speaker of the House of Commons conference on electoral reform in 1917. Although efforts to introduce STV across the UK had been abandoned, STV was adopted for use in local elections in Sligo
Sligo
Sligo is the county town of County Sligo in Ireland. The town is a borough and has a charter and a town mayor. It is sometimes referred to as a city, and sometimes as a town, and is the second largest urban area in Connacht...
in that year, as well to elect the two Members of Parliament returned by the University of Dublin constituency; STV was extended to all Irish local elections later. STV was then used in the Irish general elections of 1921
Irish elections, 1921
Two elections in Ireland took place in 1921, as a result of the Government of Ireland Act 1920 to establish the House of Commons of Northern Ireland and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland. The election was used by Irish Republicans as the basis of membership of the Second Dáil...
, and subsequently adopted for all elections by the Irish Free State
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
in 1922. Part of the reason for this was to ensure that the new state's Protestant/Unionist minority received adequate representation in the legislature, but this did not occur in practice.
Initially 46% of Dáil members were elected from constituencies of seven, eight or nine seats, until 1935 when seven seats became the largest size. Since 1947 Dáil constituencies have been no larger than five seats. The First Seanad
Seanad Éireann (Irish Free State)
Seanad Éireann was the upper house of the Oireachtas of the Irish Free State from 1922–1936. It has also been known simply as the Senate, or as the First Seanad. The Senate was established under the 1922 Constitution of the Irish Free State but a number of constitutional amendments were...
, the senate that existed during the Free State, was originally intended to be directly elected in a popular vote. However this plan was abandoned within a few years so that only one direct senatorial election was ever held. This occurred in 17 September 1925 when, in an event without historical or international parallel, the whole state voted as a single nineteen seat constituency. In the election the ballot paper listed of over seventy candidates, and the count took approximately two weeks to complete. The ultimate results, contrary to the results that might have occurred under a List PR system, strongly favoured non-party candidates.
Two attempts have been made by Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...
governments to abolish STV and replace it with the 'First Past the Post' plurality system. Both attempts were rejected by voters in referendums held in 1959 and again in 1968. In the past, gerrymandering
Gerrymandering
In the process of setting electoral districts, gerrymandering is a practice that attempts to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating geographic boundaries to create partisan, incumbent-protected districts...
was also attempted by several governments, in particular by varying the sizes (that is, the number of seats) of particular constituencies. This attempt backfired, however, in the 1977 general election
Irish general election, 1977
The Irish general election of 1977 was held on 16 June 1977 and is regarded as a pivotal point in twentieth century Irish politics. The general election took place in 42 parliamentary constituencies throughout Ireland for 148 seats in the lower house of parliament, Dáil Éireann. The number of...
when a larger than expected vote-swing caused a tipping effect resulting in disproportionate losses for the government. This botched attempt at Gerrymandering became known as the "Tullymander" after minister James Tully. Today constituencies are drawn up by an independent commission. Contrary to the common experience with proportional representation, single party (Fianna Fáil) governments were common in the Republic after the maximum constituency size was cut to five seats, holding power in 23 of the 33 years from 1948 to 1981. However since the 1981 general election
Irish general election, 1981
The Irish general election of 1981 was held on 11 June 1981, three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 21 May. The newly elected 166 members of the 22nd Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 30 June when a new Taoiseach and government were appointed....
coalitions have been the rule.
Australia
Australia uses two forms of STV, usually referred to within Australia as Hare-Clark Proportional Representation and Group-Voting Proportional Representation (or sometimes Ticket-Voting Proportional Representation). Both systems require voters to rank several, or all, of the candidates on the ballot, reducing or eliminating the possibility of exhausted votes.The Hare-Clark System is used in Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
's House of Assembly
Tasmanian House of Assembly
The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council or Upper House...
and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT)
Australian Capital Territory
The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...
Legislative Assembly
Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly
The Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory...
. This is essentially the system described above using the Droop quota (not the Hare quota
Hare quota
The Hare quota is a formula used under some forms of the Single Transferable Vote system and the largest remainder method of party-list proportional representation...
), but candidates' placements, within the column for each party, are randomised by Robson Rotation
Robson Rotation
Robson Rotation is the method of printing multiple ballots for single transferable vote elections, with each having the candidates listed in a different order....
rather than alphabetical. Casual vacancies are filled by countback.
'The Group-Voting or Ticket-Voting system is used in the Australian Senate
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
and the Legislative Council
Legislative Council
A Legislative Council is the name given to the legislatures, or one of the chambers of the legislature of many nations and colonies.A Member of the Legislative Council is commonly referred to as an MLC.- Unicameral legislatures :...
s of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
(from 2006), Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
and South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
. The votes are counted in the basically same way as under Hare-Clark, but when casting votes, voters have the option of selecting one single group voting ticket
Group voting ticket
Group voting tickets are a way to simplify preferential voting, usually in an election held under the single transferable vote or the alternative vote system....
instead of numbering individual candidates below the line. Groups of candidates (usually, but not inevitably, corresponding to political parties) may each pre-register one ranked list of all the candidates (or, in some systems, two lists) and the votes above the line for each ticket are deemed to have numbered the candidates in the order pre-specified on the team's list (if the team lodged two lists, 50% of the votes go to each version). Casual vacancies are usually filled by the parliament itself, though MPS may be required by law or convention to select a nominee of the out-going member’s party.
Each form has its pros and cons. The Hare-Clark system with Robson Rotation is advocated on the grounds that the effect of 'donkey voting' is reduced because of the randomised ordering, and the absence of the group voting ticket
Group voting ticket
Group voting tickets are a way to simplify preferential voting, usually in an election held under the single transferable vote or the alternative vote system....
s creates more personal accountability. The alternative system is advocated on the grounds that informal voting (spoiled ballots) is reduced because only one number need be written; on the other hand, it greatly increases the potential for tactics by parties as they have direct control of a large percentage of the vote. In the Australian Senate elections, nearly 95% of voters use the group voting tickets instead of ranking their own preferences. As a result, the informal rate reduced from around 10 percent, to around three percent.
| Jurisdiction | Body elected | Group tickets | Vacancies | Transfer method | Seats/constituency | Year introduced |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal Parliament | Senate Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,... |
Yes | Appointment | Gregory (inclusive) | 2 or 6 (2 or 12 at a double dissolution) | 1948 |
| Australian Capital Territory Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory... |
Legislative Assembly Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly The Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory... |
No | Countback | Gregory (simple) | 5 or 7 | 1993 |
| New South Wales New South Wales New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales... |
Legislative Council New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as... |
Yes | Appointment (formerly highest runner-up of same team) | Random | 21 | 1978 |
| South Australia South Australia South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland... |
Legislative Council South Australian Legislative Council The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the House of Assembly... |
Yes | Appointment | Gregory (inclusive) | 11 | 1973 |
| Tasmania Tasmania Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart... |
House of Assembly Tasmanian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council or Upper House... |
No | Countback | Gregory (simple) | 5 (previously 7) | 1907 |
| Western Australia Western Australia Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east... |
Legislative Council Western Australian Legislative Council The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the Legislative Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state... |
Yes | Countback | Gregory (weighted inclusive) | 6 (previously 5 or 7) | 1987 |
British Columbia
In CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the province of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
has experimented with alternate forms of balloting and has recently considered reforming its first-past-the-post
Plurality voting system
The plurality voting system is a single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly which is based on single-member constituencies...
system. Throughout the 1940s, the province had been governed by a coalition
Coalition government
A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...
of the Conservative
British Columbia Conservative Party
The British Columbia Conservative Party is a political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected as the government in 1903, the party went into decline after 1933...
and Liberal parties. Neither party had sufficient electoral support to form government alone, and the coalition allowed these parties to keep the left-of-centre Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
New Democratic Party of British Columbia
The New Democratic Party of British Columbia is a social-democratic political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party currently forms the official opposition to the governing British Columbia Liberal Party following the 2009 provincial election in British Columbia.The BC NDP is the provincial...
(CCF) out of power.
By the 1950s, the coalition had begun to fall apart, resulting in the Conservatives and Liberals having to run for office separately under their own party banners. However, in order to ensure that the CCF was prevented from taking power, one of the last acts of the coalition government was to introduce an alternative voting system (known today in the USA as instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting , also known as preferential voting, the alternative vote and ranked choice voting, is a voting system used to elect one winner. Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and their ballots are counted as one vote for their first choice candidate. If a candidate secures a...
), which was implemented for the 1952 general election
British Columbia general election, 1952
The British Columbia general election, 1952 was the 23rd general election in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on April 10, 1952, and held on June 12, 1952. The new legislature met for the...
.
Rather than voting for one candidate by marking an “x” on their ballots, electors would rank their choices for the candidates running in their constituency by placing numbers next to the names of the candidates on the ballot. If a candidate received a majority of votes cast, that candidate would be elected. If not, the candidate with the least number of votes was dropped and the second choices were allocated among the remaining candidates. This procedure would be repeated until a candidate received a majority of votes.
The unexpected result of using this voting method was the election of enough candidates of a new party, Social Credit
British Columbia Social Credit Party
The British Columbia Social Credit Party, whose members are known as Socreds, was the governing political party of British Columbia, Canada, for more than 30 years between the 1952 provincial election and the 1991 election...
(also known as “SoCreds”). This resulted in the SoCreds forming a minority government
Minority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...
, with the CCF forming the official opposition
Opposition (parliamentary)
Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. Note that this article uses the term government as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning the administration or the cabinet rather than the state...
. The Liberals were reduced to four members in the Legislature
Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is one of two components of the Parliament of British Columbia, the provincial parliament ....
. The Conservatives (who changed their name to “Progressive Conservative”
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
in tandem with their federal counterparts) were reduced to three.
The SoCred minority government lasted only nine months. The alternate voting system was again employed for the resulting general election. The result was a SoCred majority. During this term of office, the SoCreds abolished the new voting system and returned the province to the traditional voting system.
Electoral reform became an issue again in the 1990s, particularly after the NDP was re-elected in the 1996 election
British Columbia general election, 1996
The British Columbia general election of 1996 was the thirty sixth provincial election in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on April 30, 1996, and held on May 28, 1996...
. While the NDP won a majority of seats, the opposition Liberals had won a larger share of the popular vote. After the Liberals won the 2001 election
British Columbia general election, 2001
The British Columbia general election of 2001 was the 37th provincial election in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on April 18, 2001, and held on May 16, 2001...
, they created the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform
Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform (British Columbia)
The Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform is a group created by the government of British Columbia, Canada to investigate changes to the provincial electoral system...
.
The Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform surprised many when it proposed an STV electoral model called BC-STV
BC-STV
BC-STV is a proposed voting system recommended by the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform for use in British Columbia, and belongs to the Single Transferable Vote family of voting systems. BC-STV was supported by a majority of the voters in a referendum held in 2005 but the government had...
and recommended it to the electorate. In the ensuing electoral reform referendum
British Columbia electoral reform referendum, 2005
A referendum was held in the Canadian province of British Columbia on May 17, 2005 to determine whether or not to adopt the recommendations of the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform...
held on May 17, 2005, BC-STV achieved a majority 57.7% Yes support. However, this did not give it the 60% province-wide support set as a requirement by the government
British Columbia Liberal Party
The British Columbia Liberal Party is the governing political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected for government in 1916, the party went into decline after 1952, with its rump caucus merging with the Social Credit Party for the 1975 election...
(British Columbia Liberal Party
British Columbia Liberal Party
The British Columbia Liberal Party is the governing political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected for government in 1916, the party went into decline after 1952, with its rump caucus merging with the Social Credit Party for the 1975 election...
) for the referendum outcome to be automatically binding. Nevertheless, the simple majorities in 77 ridings (of 79) far exceeded the 48 ridings that was also a requirement set by the government
British Columbia Liberal Party
The British Columbia Liberal Party is the governing political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected for government in 1916, the party went into decline after 1952, with its rump caucus merging with the Social Credit Party for the 1975 election...
(British Columbia Liberal Party
British Columbia Liberal Party
The British Columbia Liberal Party is the governing political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected for government in 1916, the party went into decline after 1952, with its rump caucus merging with the Social Credit Party for the 1975 election...
).
Due to the evident support for electoral reform, the re-elected BC Liberal
British Columbia Liberal Party
The British Columbia Liberal Party is the governing political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected for government in 1916, the party went into decline after 1952, with its rump caucus merging with the Social Credit Party for the 1975 election...
government announced in the Throne Speech on September 12, 2005, that the public of British Columbia would get a second referendum on STV in November 2008. This was later rescheduled: the second referendum on electoral reform was then planned to be held in conjunction with the May 12, 2009 provincial general election. In the interim, the Electoral Boundaries Commission designed new boundaries for both FPTP and STV. Both supporting and opposing sides of the referendum campaign received government funding to help educate the public in time for the referendum.
In contrast to the 2005 vote, which saw 57.7% of voters in favour of STV, the STV initiative was then defeated on May 12, 2009 with only 39% of voters in support.
Other provinces
- Alberta: STV was used in the CalgaryCalgary (provincial electoral district)Calgary was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada that existed from 1905 to 1913 and was recreated from 1921 to 1959. The district returned from one to six members to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta...
and EdmontonEdmonton (provincial electoral district)Edmonton provincial electoral district existed in two incarnations from 1905 - 1909 and again from 1921 - 1955. The district was created when Alberta first became a province....
and Medicine HatMedicine Hat (provincial electoral district)Medicine Hat is an Albertan provincial electoral district, covering most of the city of Medicine Hat.Under the Alberta electoral boundary re-distribution of 2004, the constituency covers the portion of the city north of the South Saskatchewan River, the Trans-Canada Highway and Carry Drive...
ridings of the province of AlbertaAlbertaAlberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
from 1926 to 1955. All other electoral districts used instant-runoff votingInstant-runoff votingInstant-runoff voting , also known as preferential voting, the alternative vote and ranked choice voting, is a voting system used to elect one winner. Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and their ballots are counted as one vote for their first choice candidate. If a candidate secures a...
. In 1955 all districts were changed to First Past the Post.
- Manitoba: Provincial elections in ManitobaManitobaManitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
were conducted partly by STV from the 1920s until 1958: the city of WinnipegWinnipegWinnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
elected ten members in this manner. All other constituencies elected one member by instant-runoff votingInstant-runoff votingInstant-runoff voting , also known as preferential voting, the alternative vote and ranked choice voting, is a voting system used to elect one winner. Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and their ballots are counted as one vote for their first choice candidate. If a candidate secures a...
. Civic elections in Winnipeg were also conducted by STV.
Senate
Under the proposed Bill C-43 before the Parliament of CanadaParliament of Canada
The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislative branch of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in the national capital, Ottawa. Formally, the body consists of the Canadian monarch—represented by her governor general—the Senate, and the House of Commons, each element having its own officers and...
during the 39th Parliament - 1st Session
(April 3, 2006-Sept. 14, 2007)), STV would be used for consultative elections of Senators.
Hong Kong
The STV system was used to elect 10 seats of the territory's Legislative Council in 1995. The electorate of these 10 seats was restricted to members of the 18 District Boards in the territory.India
STV is not used for direct elections in India, but is used for the indirect election of most members of the Rajya SabhaRajya Sabha
The Rajya Sabha or Council of States is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Rajya means "state," and Sabha means "assembly hall" in Sanskrit. Membership is limited to 250 members, 12 of whom are chosen by the President of India for their expertise in specific fields of art, literature,...
, the upper house of the federal parliament. The Rajya Sabha consists of 250 members: twelve are nominated by the President of India
President of India
The President of India is the head of state and first citizen of India, as well as the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces. President of India is also the formal head of all the three branches of Indian Democracy - Legislature, Executive and Judiciary...
while the remainder are elected using STV by members of the legislatures of the states and the union territories
Union Territory
A Union Territory is a sub-national administrative division of India, in the federal framework of governance. Unlike the states of India, which have their own elected governments, union territories are ruled directly by the federal government; the President of India appoints an Administrator or...
. The number of members of the Rajya Sabha elected by each state and union territory is loosely proportionate to its population, such that, , Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
, with a population of 82 millions, is represented by 22 members, while Sikkim
Sikkim
Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayan mountains...
, with a population of 540,000 is represented by just one member.
In addition, the federal President and Vice-President are indirectly elected by MPs using Alternative Vote, which is STV applied to one vacancy at a time.
Malta
STV applies for all elections in MaltaMalta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
. However, top-up seats (similar to the additional member system
Additional Member System
The Additional Member System is the term used in the United Kingdom for the mixed member proportional representation voting system used in Scotland, Wales and the London Assembly....
) may be added in the national parliament to ensure that a party with a majority of first-preference votes wins a majority of seats. This was a response to the controversial election in 1981 when the Nationalist Party
Nationalist Party (Malta)
The Nationalist Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in Malta, along with the Labour Party. It was founded by Fortunato Mizzi in 1880 as the Anti-Reform Party, opposing taxation decreed by the British colonial authorities and measures to Anglicise the educational and the...
won 51% of the first-preference vote but the Labour Party
Malta Labour Party
The Labour Party is, along with the Nationalist Party, one of two major contemporary political parties in Malta. It is the party of opposition in the Maltese House of Representatives where it has thirty-four of the sixty-nine seats.- Party Structure :...
won a majority of the seats. Some subsequently accused Labour of having gerrymandered the 5-seat constituencies: 8 had narrowly split 3:2 in its favour, while 5 had more widely split 3:2 in favour of the Nationalists. The top-up rule was also invoked in 1987 for the benefit of the Nationalists and in 1996 for the benefit of the Labour Party.
The Maltese electorate largely does not take advantage of the cross-party voting opportunities provided by STV. Almost all voters give preferences to all the candidates from one of the two major parties, but do not give preferences to candidates from the other party. Third parties, meanwhile, get minimal support. The effect of this voting pattern is similar to a tight two-party open list
Open list
Open list describes any variant of party-list proportional representation where voters have at least some influence on the order in which a party's candidates are elected...
PR system simultaneously using STV within each party to decide its representatives whilst using the indicated first preference candidate's party as the voter's preferred party. Because of the transfer behaviour of the voters, each party can stand many more candidates than there are winners in total without being adversely affected. Strangely, some candidates stand and are elected in more than one constituency, leading to vacancies filled by countback
New Zealand
In New ZealandNew Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
STV is used in elections to small number of local authorities and in all elections for District Health Boards. The count is conducted using Meek's method. District Health Boards consist of a mixture of appointed and elected members. The vast majority of local authorities use plurality at large
Plurality-at-large voting
Plurality-at-large voting is a non-proportional voting system for electing several representatives from a single multimember electoral district using a series of check boxes and tallying votes similar to a plurality election...
(bloc voting) instead of STV. Current use of STV was introduced by the Local Electoral Act 2001 and began with elections to local councils and District Health Boards in October 2004
During the 20th century STV was used for elections to the Christchurch City Council
Christchurch City Council
The Christchurch City Council is the local government authority for Christchurch in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Christchurch. Since 2007, the Mayor of Christchurch is Bob Parker, who stood as an independent candidate...
in 1917, 1929, 1931 and 1933, and for Woolston Borough Council
Woolston, New Zealand
Woolston is a light industrial and residential suburb of Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand. It is situated three kilometres southeast of the city centre, close to major arterial routes including State Highways 73 and 74 to Banks Peninsula...
in 1917 and 1919. In business, Fonterra
Fonterra
Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited is a New Zealand multinational dairy co-operative owned by almost 10,500 New Zealand farmers. The company is responsible for approximately 30% of the world's dairy exports and with revenue exceeding NZ$19.87 billion, is New Zealand's largest company.- History :In...
used STV for their Board of Directors and Shareholders' Council elections in 2002. The Local Electoral Act 2001 provided that STV was mandatory for District Health Board elections but offered local councils the choice of either staying with plurality at large or changing to STV. It also provided for a binding poll of voters in an area to be held to determine the which system would be used, either at the initiative of the council or by a citizen's initiative
Initiative
In political science, an initiative is a means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can force a public vote...
instigated by voters in an area. In practice very few local authorities adopted STV under the Act's provisions, and in those that did the use of STV was plagued by poor explanations of the STV process, which often gave little more information than an algorithmic description of how to place a vote. This left the unfortunate impression among voters that STV was little more than a gratuitously complex equivalent to existing voting mechanisms. Nonetheless New Zealand made history by becoming the first country in the world to use the advanced Meek's method of STV.
In the 2004 elections 81 STV elections occurred, but two were not contested. Confusion was caused by the fact that some local elections included ballots for multiple local government bodies, some of which were conducted by single-winner plurality ('first past the post'), some by plurality at large, and some by STV. An example of the confusion among voters was one result from the 2007 elections, in which the first place went to blank or incomplete voting forms and the fourth place went to incorrectly filled-out forms. The actual candidates came in at places two and three. Due to low voter turnout, the high number of spoilt votes and the long time taken for results to be declared, the Justice and Electoral Committee of the New Zealand Parliament has undertaken an inquiry into the use of STV in New Zealand.
United Kingdom
STV is not used for elections to the UK ParliamentParliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
at Westminster
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...
but is used for all Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
, European and local government elections in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, and for local elections in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. In Northern Ireland, Assembly elections involve six-seat constituencies, while local elections currently use constituencies of between five and seven seats. For European elections Northern Ireland serves as a single three-seat constituency. Local elections in Scotland use constituencies of three or four seats. All official STV elections in the UK use the Gregory method of counting votes.
STV is also used by many private organisations. For example, it is used in many British university students' union
Students' union
A students' union, student government, student senate, students' association, guild of students or government of student body is a student organization present in many colleges and universities, and has started appearing in some high schools...
s (and promoted by the National Union of Students as the fairest way of running elections), for all elections within the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
and for electing board members in The Co-operative Group
The Co-operative Group
The Co-operative Group Ltd. is a United Kingdom consumer cooperative with a diverse range of business interests. It is co-operatively run and owned by its members. It is the largest organisation of this type in the world, with over 5.5 million members, who all have a say in how the business is...
.
As noted above, because it was invented by the Englishman Thomas Hare and has been used in many parts of the former British Empire, STV has in the past been referred to as "British proportional representation". Nonetheless it has never been used by more than a handful of constituencies in the British Parliament. In 1917, the Speaker's Conference in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
advocated the adoption of STV for 211 of the 569 constituencies in the UK, and instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting , also known as preferential voting, the alternative vote and ranked choice voting, is a voting system used to elect one winner. Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and their ballots are counted as one vote for their first choice candidate. If a candidate secures a...
for the rest. Although the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
voted in favour of the proposals five times, the House of Lords continually rejected it until the nationwide effort was ultimately abandoned in parliament. Nonetheless in 1918 STV was adopted for the university constituencies of Cambridge
Cambridge University (UK Parliament constituency)
Cambridge University was a university constituency electing two members to the British House of Commons, from 1603 to 1950.-Boundaries, Electorate and Election Systems:...
, Oxford
Oxford University (UK Parliament constituency)
Oxford University was a university constituency electing two members to the British House of Commons, from 1603 to 1950.-Boundaries, Electorate and Electoral System:...
, Combined English Universities
Combined English Universities (UK Parliament constituency)
Combined English Universities was a university constituency represented in the United Kingdom Parliament . It was formed by enfranchising and combining all the English Universities, except for Cambridge, Oxford and London, which were already separately represented.-Boundaries:This University...
, Combined Scottish Universities and Dublin University; these constituencies continued to use STV until their abolition in 1950 (or 1922 in the case of Dublin University). STV was also introduced for local elections in the Irish borough of Sligo
Sligo
Sligo is the county town of County Sligo in Ireland. The town is a borough and has a charter and a town mayor. It is sometimes referred to as a city, and sometimes as a town, and is the second largest urban area in Connacht...
in 1918, and extended to all Irish local government shortly afterwards.
In 1921 the UK government attempted to establish two home rule
Home rule
Home rule is the power of a constituent part of a state to exercise such of the state's powers of governance within its own administrative area that have been devolved to it by the central government....
parliaments in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
–the Parliament of Southern Ireland
Parliament of Southern Ireland
The Parliament of Southern Ireland was a home rule legislature set up by the British Government during the Irish War of Independence under the Fourth Home Rule Bill...
and the Parliament of Northern Ireland
Parliament of Northern Ireland
The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended...
–with the Irish general elections of 1921
Irish elections, 1921
Two elections in Ireland took place in 1921, as a result of the Government of Ireland Act 1920 to establish the House of Commons of Northern Ireland and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland. The election was used by Irish Republicans as the basis of membership of the Second Dáil...
, both of which were conducted using STV. The intention of using STV in Ireland was partly to ensure adequate representation for the Catholic minority in the North and the Protestant minority in the South. Southern Ireland seceded from the UK in 1921 but today, as the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, continues to use STV for all of its elections. The Northern Ireland Parliament continued to use STV until the late 1920s when it switched to the first past the post plurality system. However STV was reintroduced there after the imposition of direct rule in 1973, and is now in use for all elections except those to Westminster.
In Scotland, following the passage of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act
Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004
The Local Governance Act 2004 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament which provided, inter alia, for the election of Councillors to the local authorities in Scotland by the Single Transferable Vote system....
on 23 June 2004, all local governments have used STV to elect their councillors since 2007. In Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, the Richard Commission recommended in March 2004 changing the electoral system for the National Assembly for Wales
National Assembly for Wales
The National Assembly for Wales is a devolved assembly with power to make legislation in Wales. The Assembly comprises 60 members, who are known as Assembly Members, or AMs...
to the Single Transferable Vote. However, in the white paper Better Governance for Wales published on 15 June 2005, the UK Government, without giving reasons, rejected Richard's recommendation to change the electoral system.
United States
, the only official governing bodies that use STV to elect representatives are the City Council and School Committee of Cambridge, MassachusettsCambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
. However STV enjoyed a period of popularity in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the first half of the twentieth century.
Twenty-two American cities have used STV for local elections. It was used for the election of the nine member City Council of Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
from 1924 to 1957, and was also used in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
and Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
. New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
adopted STV in 1936 as a method for breaking the corrupt political machine
Political machine
A political machine is a political organization in which an authoritative boss or small group commands the support of a corps of supporters and businesses , who receive rewards for their efforts...
of Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society...
dominating the city and used it for five elections in 1937 to 1945. Reform opponents regularly challenged STV after its successes. Only two of the first 24 repeal efforts in cities around the nation were successful, but after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, harsh campaigns against STV were successfully carried out after African-Americans and political minorities such as Communists and urban Republicans
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
began winning seats, even though they only constituted a minority group in government. After STV's removal and subsequent reversion to the current FPTP in New York in 1947, the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
immediately regained near unanimous control of municipal elections with Tammany Hall quickly returning to political dominance until its ultimate downfall in the mid 1960s
1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...
. STV has also been used in the election of New York City community school board members.
Today there are campaigns in some cities to introduce STV. Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
voted in 2006 to adopt STV for certain city elections starting in 2009, while Davis, California passed an advisory referendum to use STV for future city council elections. The community school boards of the City of New York used STV until the school boards themselves were abolished in 2002. The city of San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
in 1996 considered multimember STV in a referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
; this effort failed, with the city instead voting for district elections and, in 2002, adopting instant runoff voting. Cincinnati also narrowly failed to restore STV for city council elections in citizen initiatives in 1988 and 1991.
The Single Transferable Vote has become increasingly used at American universities
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
for student elections. , the schools of Harvard, Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, Vassar
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
, Reed
Reed College
Reed College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in southeast Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus located in Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood, featuring architecture based on the Tudor-Gothic style, and a forested canyon wilderness...
, and Whitman
Whitman College
Whitman College is a private, co-educational, non-sectarian, residential undergraduate liberal arts college located in Walla Walla, Washington. Initially founded as a seminary by a territorial legislative charter in 1859, the school became a four year degree granting institution in 1883...
all use STV, and several other universities are considering its adoption.
NGOs
Many non-governmental organisations also use STV. Most Australian political parties, unions and peak business organisations use STV. All National Union of Students of the United Kingdom, Cambridge Union, and Oxford UnionOxford Union
The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, Britain, whose membership is drawn primarily but not exclusively from the University of Oxford...
elections and those of their constituent members are under the system. It is used as well by ESIB – The National Unions of Students in Europe. It is used in several political parties for internal elections such as the British Liberal-Democrats, all the British Green Parties, the Green Party of the United States and the Green Party of California
Green Party of California
The Green Party of California is the California affiliate of the Green Party. The party is a ballot-qualified in California, first established as such in 1991, using the petition method of gaining state recognition....
. It is also used to elect members of the General Synod of the Church of England
General Synod
-Church of England:In the Church of England, the General Synod, which was established in 1970 , is the legislative body of the Church.-Episcopal Church of the United States:...
. The UK Royal Statistical Society
Royal Statistical Society
The Royal Statistical Society is a learned society for statistics and a professional body for statisticians in the UK.-History:It was founded in 1834 as the Statistical Society of London , though a perhaps unrelated London Statistical Society was in existence at least as early as 1824...
uses STV with Meek's method to elect their council. Some Unitarian
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
Church groups have used Single Transferable Vote to select projects for funding. Twin Oaks Community uses a version of STV they call Movable Money Votes to elect projects and set their budgets. The US-Based Pacifica Radio
Pacifica Radio
Pacifica Radio is the oldest public radio network in the United States. It is a group of five independently operated, non-commercial, listener-supported radio stations that is known for its progressive/liberal political orientation. It is also a program service supplying over 100 affiliated...
Network uses STV to elect its station governing boards.
The Object Management Group (OMG)
Object Management Group
Object Management Group is a consortium, originally aimed at setting standards for distributed object-oriented systems, and is now focused on modeling and model-based standards.- Overview :...
uses STV for their Architecture Board (AB) elections.
The selection of nominees for Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
is via an STV ballot of the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
. Differences from STV are that voters may only rank five as many choices as nominees (five for most categories, with ten for best picture), and that at least one first preference is required for a candidate to be successful. Selection of a winner from among the nominees is done using plurality voting.