Top mayoral candidates support STV
Julie Hardaker, Dave Macpherson and Ewan Wilson have shared their support for changing the electoral system from FPP to STV.
Three leading Hamilton mayoralty candidates have now publicly stated their support for Vote STV for Hamilton.
Mayor Julie Hardaker, and challengers Dave Macpherson and Ewan Wilson, all support changing the electoral system from FPP (First Past the Post) to STV (Single Transferable Vote).
Hardaker announced on Facebook on Monday that she was supporting STV.
Voter John Lewis shared on Facebook that he would not mind STV when picking a single candidate for mayor.
“Quite easy to rank them but I hate it for a group such as six councillors for a ward where I like them equally and object to being forced to rank them if I want my vote counted,” Mr Lewis said.
Mark Servian, campaign manager for STV Hamilton, said he is waiting to hear back from all mayoral candidates before he announces who is supportive of STV.
He said he is glad Ms Hardaker has announced her support for the new voting system.
“So she should,” Mr Servian said.
Hamilton City Council’s current electoral system is FPP – First Past the Post, where you tick the name of the person you most prefer.
The candidate who receives the most votes wins.
Single Transferable Vote (STV) is a proportional electoral system where voters rank candidates in order of preference (1st, 2nd, 3rd etc).
A candidate must reach a quota to be elected.
If a candidate receives more votes than the threshold required, that candidate is elected and the surplus votes are redistributed in line with the voter’s second or higher preferences.
If no candidates are above the threshold then the lowest polling candidates are removed and votes redistributed until a candidate is above the threshold.
This process continues until all the candidates needed are elected.
The Facebook group campaigning for STV states: this year Hamiltonians get to choose what electoral system they use for the 2016 and 2019 elections – and the choice is clear – Hamilton should choose STV.
They believe it is the best system to get proportional representation for local elected councils.
