Single non-transferable vote

Single non-transferable vote (SNTV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote. Like first-past-the-post voting, SNTV uses basic plurality to allocate seats. Being semi-proportional, SNTV gives a chance for both small parties and large parties to be represented. Under SNTV, a single party seldom will take all seats in a city or district.

SNTV is a combination of multi-member districts and each voter casting just one vote. SNTV can be considered a variant of dot voting where each voter has only one point to assign. It can also be seen as a variant of limited voting where each elector has one vote, or as a simple version of single transferable vote where votes are not transferred. Unlike block voting or limited voting, where voters can cast two or more votes, under SNTV each voter casts just one.

SNTV retains many of the problems of first-past-the-post voting (first-preference plurality voting), such as high incidence of wasted votes. As a result it is sometimes viewed skeptically by social choice theorists. However, its relative simplicity and easy vote-counting makes the system particularly popular for small elections to offices such as city councils, particularly when compared to the more-intricate single transferable vote (STV) system, and has resulted in the method becoming commonly used for ordering open party lists.