Imagine you and your friends are picking the best ice cream flavor in a super fun group vote, but instead of just choosing one favorite, you get to help pick multiple favorites at once!
In Single Transferable Vote, everyone gets to rank their choices, like saying “I love chocolate,” “I like vanilla next,” and “strawberry is my third choice.” Then, the votes are counted in a special way.
How it Counts Votes
First, they see which flavor has the most first-choice votes. If that flavor gets more than half of all the votes, it wins, just like when you pick your favorite game to play.
But if not, the flavor with the fewest votes gets bumped down, like when someone moves from one line to another in a queue, and their votes go to the next choice on their list. This keeps happening until someone has enough votes to win!
It’s like sharing candy among friends, everyone gets what they want most, and no one feels left out.
Examples
- Imagine choosing your favorite three candidates on a ballot, if your first choice doesn't win, your vote goes to your second choice.
- If you like two candidates but not the third, your vote can help both of your favorites get more support.
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See also
- What is Proportional representation (PR)?
- What is first-past-the-post?
- What is Single transferable voting (STV)?
- How Can a Single Vote Change the Whole Election?
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