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STV in Depth: How Malta's Voting System Actually Works
At 22:13 · chapter starts 22:10
With First Past the Post and the French model as contrasts, the hosts turn to Malta's own system. Jon walks through an STV ballot: you rank candidates 1, 2, 3 across parties — Labour first, Nationalist second, a third party third. When your first preference is elected with surplus votes, those extras transfer down your list. When your first preference is eliminated, your vote moves to your second choice. The Droop quota determines how many votes are needed to win a seat. Theoretically this ensures almost no vote is wasted and diverse preferences are reflected in parliament. The problem, David argues, is that most Maltese voters vote straight down one party's list, effectively treating STV as a party-list system. The Ferrari sits in the garage.
Liechtenstein, a country of only 40,000–50,000 people, manages to sustain five political parties, countering the argument that Malta's small size necessitates a two-party system.
Malta's STV system divides the country into 13 districts each electing 5 MPs, totalling 65 seats under normal conditions.
