About OpenSTV

OpenSTV is desktop software for counting ranked-choice ballots for election methods such as the single transferable vote, instant runoff voting, and Condorcet voting. OpenSTV will run on MS Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. To download OpenSTV to your computer, select the download link at the top of the page. Please send questions to the email list openstv at googlegroups.com.

Before using OpenSTV, you need to have the ballots from your voters. You can collect ballots using OpaVote or collect them on your own (such as paper ballots).

Here is a summary of some of the features of OpenSTV:

• Ballots
  • Supports the BLT format used by the Electoral Reform society.
  • Supports an easier to read text format ballot.
  • Can withdraw candidates from the ballots if a candidate has quit the election.
  • Can control the handling of overvotes and undervotes.
• Elections
  • Available methods include (see our recommendations for help in choosing a voting method):
    • Approval
    • Borda
    • Bucklin
    • Cambridge STV
    • Condorcet
    • Coombs
    • ERS97 STV
    • Green Party of CA STV
    • Iceland STV
    • Instant Runoff Voting
    • Meek STV
    • Minneapolis STV
    • N. Ireland STV
    • Scotland STV
    • Warren STV
  • Can break ties manually or randomly.
  • Ballot file editor provides a simple GUI for entering ballots.
  • Can save results as text, html, and CSV (comma separated value)