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How do voters rank candidates in a single transferable vote election?

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Map of Canada displaying the results of the 2008 federal election by province and territory, with regions shaded to indicate the leading party's share of the popular vote: blue for Conservative, red for Liberal, light blue for Bloc Quebecois, and orange for New Democratic Party. Each area is labeled with the number of seats won by each party, and a legend at the bottom summarizes national seat totals for each party. — election Canada's 2008 federal election results.

In a single transferable vote (STV) election, voters rank candidates on their ballot in order of preference—marking their first choice, second choice, and so on.12

This system is used in multimember districts, meaning voters are not just choosing one representative but are helping to fill multiple seats. By ranking candidates, voters ensure their support is not wasted; if their first-choice candidate is either elected with a surplus of votes or eliminated due to having the fewest votes, their ballot is transferred to their next-highest-ranked preference. This process of transferring votes continues until all available seats are filled.132

Because this method relies on the aggregation of these ranked preferences, it allows for a more accurate reflection of the electorate's support for both individual candidates and parties compared to winner-take-all systems. While the process requires complex electoral computations, it is a recognized method for achieving proportional representation in various national and local elections.12