Counting single transferable votes

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It has been suggested that this article be merged into Single transferable vote. (Discuss) Proposed since May 2024.

The single transferable vote (STV) is a semi-proportional representation system that elects multiple winners. It is one of several ways of choosing winners from ballots that rank candidates by preference. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to their first-ranked candidate. Candidates are elected (winners) if their vote tally reaches quota. After the winners in the first count are determined, if seats are still open, surplus votes — those in excess of an electoral quota— are transferred from winners to the remaining candidates (hopefuls) according to the surplus ballots' next usable back-up preference.

The system attempts to ensure political parties are represented proportionally without official party lists by having each winner elected with the same or about the same number of votes. There are several variants of the Single Transferable Vote, each having substantially different properties.