The alternative vote is another electoral system designed to secure a majority representation of the electorate. Under the system, voters are issued ballot papers in which they must indicate their preferences in order of preference – first, second, third, etc. The majority split their votes across multiple candidates.
The candidate with the least preference is dropped and their vote is distributed to other candidates according to the voter’s second preference. The candidates with the least preference are repeatedly knocked out until a winner emerges.
An example is shown in the table below.
| Candidate | First Result | Second Preference | Second Result |
| Olumide Ajayi | 60,000 | 2,000 | 62,000 |
| Tola Benson | 55,000 | 9,000 | 64,000 |
| John Hover (Eliminated) | 11,000 | ——- | ——- |
In the first round, Olumide Ajayi had the highest score, while John Hover, who scored the least with 11,000 votes, was dropped and his votes were distributed between Olumide and Tola. Tola was the eventual winner after getting a lion’s share of second preference votes from those who voted for John.
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