What are national-level stv elections?

National-level STV elections are like picking your favorite team members to be on a big group that helps run the country.

Imagine you're in a huge classroom, and everyone gets to choose who they want to represent them in a special club. That’s kind of what happens in STV, or Single Transferable Vote elections. Instead of just picking one person, you can pick several, like choosing your top 3 favorite players for the team.

In STV elections, people vote for their favorite candidates, but they can choose more than one. If someone gets too many votes, they get to be on the team, and their extra votes go to other people who are still in the running, like passing a ball to another player if the first one is already on the field.

This way, the group that ends up being chosen is more like what everyone wants, it's fairer and gives more people a say. It’s like making sure every kid in the classroom has a chance to be part of the team they love.