How does Top pick (Single Transferable Voting) work?

Alex Bon Ami

Updated August 30, 2024 12:01

The Top pick judging mode uses the Single Transferable Vote (STV) method to determine winners.

Important: by default, Top pick does not create a ranked list of winners. The entry in the top position of the leaderboard is no more of a "winner" than the entry in second or third position. To create a ranked list using Top pick, see our guide: How to calculate a ranked list when using Top pick.

To help explain how STV method works I’ll be using an example. In this example, there are 100 entries and 3 winners to be selected (quantity of winners on the score set).

Step 1: determine number of picks to win (quota)

Based on the number of entries and the quantity of winners configured on your top pick score set, the system will determine the quota which is the required number of picks to win. It is determined by this formula: Number of entries / (Quantity of winners + 1) +1

Example:

Number of entries = 100

Quantity of winners = 3

100/(3 + 1) + 1 = 26

Quota =26

Step 2: first preferences counted and allocated to entries

The first preferences from all the judges are counted and allocated to each entry

Step 3: if quota is met, winners are selected

Any entry that has reached or exceeded the number of picks needed to win (the quota) is declared a winner.

If all winners have been determined, the process stops here. Using our example, if only 1 out of 3 winners have been selected the process continues on to step 4.

Step 4: surplus votes transferred

If an entry has more picks than the required amount to win, that entry’s surplus picks are transferred to the next preference.

Example: an entry needs 26 picks to be declared a winner so if an entry received 30 picks, the extra 4 picks would be transferred to the next preference.

Step 5: eliminate entry with fewest picks

If no winners are determined at step 3, the entry with the fewest picks is eliminated and that entry’s picks are transferred to the next preference of that judge.

Step 6: repeat until all winners selected

Steps 3 - 5 are repeated until all winners are selected.

Video overview

This short video is a fairly easy-to-understand explanation of how STV works: