Single Transferable Vote Advantages And Disadvantages

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Single Transferable Vote (STV) is developed by Thomas Hill in 1819 for the purpose of electing the Committee of the Birmingham (England) Society for Literary and Scientific Improvement. He was a mathematician and schoolmaster. The Single Transferable Vote (STV) is defined as a type of proportional representation that produces a proportional parliament with local representation and the direct election of individuals. Single transferable vote (STV) is the predominant form of proportional representative in countries with a heritage of English influence. STV is used for the election of the Dáil (Assembly) in Ireland, the Senate in Australia, the House of Representatives in Malta and local councils in Scotland. On the other hand, in the United …show more content…

It means the percentage of votes for parties are almost equal or same with the percentage of seats gained. During Scottish Local Election 2012, the SNP party got 32% of 1st preferences vote and they gained 35% of seats. On the other hand, the Labour party got 32% of 1st preferences votes and gained 32% of seats across Scotland. Next, STV have more representatives so people will have more choices to choose. For example, during Australia Federal Election 2016, there are few choices for people to choose their preferences. There are Malcolm Turnbull from Liberal Party, Bill Shorten form Labor Party, Richard Di Natale from Greens party, Nick Xenophon from Xenophon Team and Bob Katter from Katter’s Australian …show more content…

It means that fewer votes are cast for losing candidates or unnecessary cast for a run-away winner. It allows people to vote their preferences without throwing away their vote on losing candidates. The seats in STV are divided proportionally rather than all the seats will be awarded to the winner. Hence, it ensures that all the seats are distributed more fairly with less people’s votes counting for nothing. Furthermore, STV led elected bodies with a broader representation and thus there are more likely able to reflex the electorate’s views and more responsive to them. The parties will have broad coalitions. It is more likely a few parties will have to work together and no single party will control overall. Next, STV can eliminate tactic voting. Tactical voting means an act of voting for a political party or a person that you would not usually support in order to prevent another party or person from winning. Next, STV provides a sophisticated link between a constituency and its representative. The constituencies should have more sensible reflective towards the community’s feeling instead of being more incentive to campaign and