User:Pathoschild/2007 single transferable voting for board elections

Single Transferable Voting is an electoral system in which voters list candidates in order of preference. This page examines an electoral method for the 2008 board elections based on this system.

In the derived system, voters rank as many candidates as they'd like. If one preferred candidate loses, their vote is transferred to their next favourite candidate. This eliminates the need for strategic voting, and ensures that votes for less-popular candidate aren't "wasted" but instead increase the chances that second-favourite candidates win. Winners can be calculated in one of two ways:

• the Schulze method;
• by systematically eliminating the weakest candidates in each calculation round.

Example process

Voting

In an example election, there are 1000 voters electing six candidates to three positions. They are presented with a form like this:

Please rank the candidates according to your preferences by filling in a number beside the box (1 = favourite candidate, 2 = second favourite...). You can leave boxes blank to not vote for those candidates.

If your favourite candidate is not elected, your vote will be automatically transferred to your second-favourite candidate. Your vote will be transferred until the candidates you voted for win or it reaches the end of your list.

  John Doe

  Billy User

  Jane Apple

  GenericName32

  Mary Hill

  Jacques Example

The form script will ask the user to correct the input if there are non-numerical values; any numerical values will be ordered, so that "-50 0 300 1000" become "1 2 3 4".

Results

After the election, a computer program counts the votes. The votes cast are distributed like this:

Candidate	Vote count by preference
	1	2	3	4	total
John Doe	418	300	262	20	1000
Billy User	328	350	102	176	956
Jane Apple	116	136	210	148	610
GenericName32	1	4	28	20	53
Mary Hill	116	132	292	425	962
Jacques Example	21	67	95	200	383
total	1000	989	989	989

Vote counting (systematic elimination method)

In a series of steps, the computer program will systematically eliminate the weakest candidates and transfer votes until there are only three winning candidates remaining (assuming there are three positions to be filled).

1. GenericName32 has the fewest #1 votes, so he is automatically eliminated. All remaining votes are transferred.
2. Jacques Example has the fewest #1 votes and transferred votes, so he is eliminated.
3. Mary Hill has the fewest #1 votes and transferred votes, so she is eliminated.
4. John Doe, Billy User, and Jane Apple win.

FAQ

Voting

1. Can I change my votes after casting them?

   Yes; simply casting a new ballot will replace the old one.

2. What if I don't prefer one candidate over another?

   You can vote equally for candidates by using the same number; for example, "1, 2, 2, 3".

Counting

1. What if a candidate withdraws?

   All votes for that candidate will be ignored, so the program will skip to the next favourite candidate on your list.

See also

• w:Single Transferable Vote