I’m still at a loss how Guru won? I thought with STV you had to get 51% of the vote to win & not on first or second counts was it 51% of the Candidates votes?
Under STV if you get 51% or more of the vote for a single seat then you win on what is called the first iteration. If no candidate gets that then the STV system kicks in. Initially in the second iteration the second preferences for the lowest polling candidate on first preferences get counted first and if that doesn’t push the top runner over 51% then the same thing happens to the votes that the next highest got. Gwynn Compton got a lot more second preference votes than Guru got and in the final result Guru got only about half the majority that he did with the first preferences — but it was still significantly more. Gwynn Compton’s minus for voters would have been his lack of experience as a councilor. But next election, the smart money will be on him!
I’m still at a loss how Guru won? I thought with STV you had to get 51% of the vote to win & not on first or second counts was it 51% of the Candidates votes?
Under STV if you get 51% or more of the vote for a single seat then you win on what is called the first iteration. If no candidate gets that then the STV system kicks in. Initially in the second iteration the second preferences for the lowest polling candidate on first preferences get counted first and if that doesn’t push the top runner over 51% then the same thing happens to the votes that the next highest got. Gwynn Compton got a lot more second preference votes than Guru got and in the final result Guru got only about half the majority that he did with the first preferences — but it was still significantly more. Gwynn Compton’s minus for voters would have been his lack of experience as a councilor. But next election, the smart money will be on him!