STV

From Voteswap Canada

STV or Single Transferable Vote is a class of voting systems often proposed as part of an electoral reform. It competes with MMP, 123 and new systems like BSTV+C+L to replace the FPTP system presently used in all provincial and federal elections within Canada.

Two referenda were held in BC on adopting a form of this system, in 2005 and 2009. While in 2005 the proposed BC-STV system achieved over 57% of the popular vote with 77/79 districts over 50% support, the extremely high threshold of 60% meant that the system was not adopted. Despite it having more support than the false majority government of Gordon Campbell elected in that same election. A re-vote on the same terms in 2009 failed miserably with only about 38% of the vote, out of a required 60% to approve. For details on the referenda see BC electoral reform referendum, 2005 and BC electoral reform referendum, 2009. An active "no" campaign willing to distort facts is blamed by some advocates for the latter loss, some of whom dismiss the low support in the re-vote as a one-time event. Unlike MMP which failed in multiple provinces under different conditions and never rose in any referendum above 40% support, variants of STV (such as BSTV+C+L) are still considered viable for Canada.

For details on its mechanics see Wikipedia or download the OpenSTV software which allows you to run your own small votes.

See "the frustrated voter" for a detailed comparison of various types of balloting systems with illustrations.