How To Vote Using STV

Instead of ticking the candidates you want to vote for, with STV (Single Transferable Vote) you number the candidates in order of preference. Put a "1" beside the candidate you like best, then a "2" beside your second choice, "3" by your third choice, and so on. You can vote for as many or as few candidates as you like.

So, what does the numbering do?

By giving the number"1" to a candidate, you are saying that the candidate is your number one choice.

By ranking candidates in your preferred order - 1,2,3,4 and so on - you are also saying which other candidates you prefer:

• if your top choice doesn't have enough     support to get in or,
• if your top choice doesn't need all the votes     they received to be elected, their votes will spill over to the next     candidate on your list.

What else do I need to know?

For your vote to be counted there just needs to be a single '1'. After that the numbers you use must be in sequence and there must be only one of each number. If you make a mistake, your vote will be valid up to when you made the error - for example,if you miss out a "4" and just rank 1, 2, 3 and 5, only your first three preferences will be valid.

Why should I vote for more than one candidate?

Only ranking 1 or 2 candidates will cause the surplus votes to be discarded and not allocated to other candidates. It is important to make the best use of STV to rank as many candidates as possible, this will multiply the chances of electing your preferred candidates.

See how it works?

So, you can see how simple it really is to vote using STV, check out a sample STV voting form

What it means

With STV, candidates must reach a certain number of votes - called a quota to be elected. In the example above, this voter is saying:

"The candidate I most want to represent me on the council is Sam Jones. He's my number one choice. But if he gets more votes than the quota (that is, more than he needs to be elected),then part of my vote is to be transferred to my second choice, Ngaire Smith,and maybe this will help to get her elected. On the other hand, if Sam has so little support that he can't possibly be elected, transfer my vote to Ngaire..."
Single Transferable Vote

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