STV didn’t deliver democracy for Wellington

In the 2010 local government elections for Wellington City, the STV system of voting delivered a result that would have most Wellingtonian’s scratching their heads. The elections produced a new mayor who had not received more first preference votes than the person she removed.

How could this possibly happen – is this a democracy or something completely foreign?

The answer is the latter. The STV system delivered a majority for the incumbent mayor - on the basis that each person voted for their choice! Yet under this system, the second and third choices of many voters promoted the losing candidate - to winning the election.

This effectively means that many people who did not vote as a first choice for a candidate who lost on the first preference, were actually given two votes. Those who voted for the winning candidate on the first preference effectively ended up with only one vote.

Confused? Well so were most Wellingtonians about how the system could actually undermine their own preferences.

Many Wellingtonians are now saying that their second and third choice votes were “throw-away” votes and that they never imagined it would help elect someone they didn’t have as their first choice.

If you agree that this doesn’t seem fair, Have Your Say or Sign Up to support our campaign for a review of the system. Also, if you are on Facebook, join us and voice your views there too.