STV is also used for all public elections in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and STV has just been recommended for local body elections in Scotland. The procedure for adopting STV is as straight forward as voting. The Bill sets out the procedure for this. In the year prior to a local body election a council can adopt STV or a community can petition to hold a referendum on its adoption. Deciding who wins seats under STV is also straightforward.
Voters rank the candidates in order of preference.
A quota is calculated to determine the minimum number of votes needed by a candidate to win a seat. If the votes for a candidate equal or exceed the quota then they are elected. In the case of a single seat or a mayoralty contest, if no candidate reaches the quota, then the lowest polling candidate is eliminated and the second preferences of those who voted for that candidate are counted. This continues until there is an absolute majority support for one candidate. A similar procedure applies in multi-member wards.