The Act — Section by Section Part 1 – Local government elections
4.The current electoral system used for local government elections in Scotland is the first past the post system. This part of the Act makes provision for the introduction of a Single Transferable Vote (STV) system of proportional representation.
5.Unlike first past the post which is used to elect one member per ward, STV can be used to elect a number of candidates for each ward in a local government area. The provisions in this Act allow for 3 or 4 members to be elected in each ward. Whether 3 or 4 are to be elected will, in relation to each ward, be determined following a review of electoral arrangements by the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland (“the Boundary Commission”).
6.Rather than voting for one candidate only, voters can indicate their order of preference for one, some or all of the candidates shown on the ballot paper by marking, for example “1” against their first preference, “2” against their second and so on.