Example
Suppose a food election is conducted to determine what to serve at a party. There are 5 candidates, 3 of which will be chosen. The candidates are: Oranges, Pears, Chocolate, Strawberries, and Sweets. The 20 guests at the party have their ballots marked according to the table below. In this example, a second choice is needed by only some of the voters; however, with a different vote distribution additional preferences may be needed.
| # of Guests | x x x x | x x | x x x x x x x x |
x x x x | x | x |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Preference | ||||||
| 2nd Preference |
First, the quota is calculated. Using the Droop quota, with 20 voters and 3 winners to be found, the number of votes required to be elected is:
When ballots are counted the election proceeds as follows:
| Candidate: | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | x x x x | x x | x x x x x x x x x x x x |
x | x | Round 1: Chocolate is declared elected, since Chocolate has more votes than the quota. |
| Round 2 | x x x x | x x | x x x x x x |
x x x x x |
x x x | Round 2: Chocolate's surplus votes transfer to Strawberry and Sweets in proportion to the Chocolate voters' second choice preferences. However, even with the transfer of this surplus no candidate has reached the quota. Therefore Pear, who has the fewest votes, is eliminated. |
| Round 3 | x x x x x x |
x x x x x x |
x x x x x |
x x x | Round 3: Pear's votes transfer to their second preference, Oranges, causing Orange to reach the quota and be elected. Orange meets the quota exactly, and therefore has no surplus to transfer. | |
| Round 4 | x x x x x x |
x x x x x x |
x x x x x |
x x x | Round 4: Neither of the remaining candidates meets the quota, but Strawberry has more votes, so Sweets are eliminated, and Strawberry wins the final seat. |
Result: The winners are Chocolate, Oranges and Strawberries.
Read more about this topic: Single Transferable Vote
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