Starting in 2007, local elections in Scotland will be held for the first time under the single transferable vote (STV) system.

The principal of STV is simple. A person may win an election in first past the post (FPTP) elections with a small actual share of the vote. For example, if there were five candidates standing in a FPTP election, the break down could be like the one below:

Candidate one (duly elected): 500 votes (26.66%)
Candidate two: 499 votes (26.60%)
Candidate three: 450 votes (23.99%)
Candidate four: 400 votes (21.32%)
Candidate five: 27 votes (1.43%)

1376 people did not vote for candidate one but, since candidate one got the highest number of votes, they were deemed the first past the post.

Under STV even the 27 voters for candidate five matter. Wards usually become larger, with three or four councillors elected at one given election. In a three member ward, any candidate who received over twenty five percent of the vote would immediately be elected, in a four member the percentage would be reduced to over twenty. Imaging the result above was for a three member ward, candidates one and two would be successfully elected outright. Then the process of vote transferral takes place.

In a STV election an elector does not just place one cross on a ballot paper. Instead no crosses are used at all: the electors rank all the candidates standing, from favourite to least. Their first preference would receive a 1, the second preference a 2 and so forth. After any candidates had qualified outright, preference votes would be added for the remaining candidates, excluding the lowest placed candidate.

This can often produce some startling results! A minority party candidate may be very few peoples first choice, but gather a significant amount of second preferences from voters across all of the major parties. Not everybody will vote for all three or four candidates of their chosen party and, indeed, some parties may not even run the full amount of candidates. In some areas, parties may run too many candidates, although this is rare as it serves no real purpose.

Through this system, even those wards considered the safest could see a split. As a result, the disenfranchisement of those voters who do not vote for a majority party will end and an increase in first votes for minority parties may ensue, once the voters understand that every voter does truly matter. No longer will political parties be able to pronounce X cant win here, vote Y to keep Z out.

On the other hand, STV is complicated. It takes considerable time to process and also considerable time to get used to. It is already used in Ireland and in some mayoral elections, where many people still place a cross or spoil their ballot paper as they have not read instructions clearly. For the elderly in particular it is a confusing system and, in reality, still open to tactical voting in the placing of preferences.

Its impact on Scottish democracy will be difficult to tell till after 2007 but one thing is certain. Any move to try to get the voters involved in politics and see every vote as important can only be a good thing, even if it is unsuccessful in the long run.