The commonly used methods are IRV or STV, where a preferential vote is made.
IRV is often used where you will have a single winner, and STV for multiple winners.
Other frequently used methods are described below.
With approval voting, a voter can approve of as many candidates as he or she likes, and the candidate approved of by the greatest number of voters is elected. A voter approves of a candidate by listing the candidate on the ballot, and the order of the candidates on the ballot makes no difference.
Random transfer STV (RTSTV) is a method that treats each vote as a single unit that votes cannot be split up among multiple candidates. Because the order of the votes can change the outcome of the election, it is called a “random” transfer method.
Instant runoff voting (IRV) is more commonly used to elect one candidate but can also be used to provide semi-proportional representation. Ballots are first distributed according to their first choices. The candidate with the fewest number of ballots is eliminated and the ballots are transferred to their next choices. This process is repeated until the winners are determined.
With the single non-transferable vote, only the first choices are used in counting the ballots, and the candidate with the greatest number of first choices is the winner. When there is only one seat to be filled, this corresponds to a traditional plurality election. When there is more than one seat to be filled, this provides a simple form of proportional representation. You should make use of the voter restrictions (min and max options) for this type of count.
Scotland enacted these rules for local elections in 2007. This is a straightforward implementation of STV and recommended to organizations using STV for the first time.
